SOCY 411
APPALACHIAN CULTURES
Catalog Entry
SOCY 411. APPALACHIAN CULTURES.
Three hours lecture (3).
Prerequisites: APST 200, or SOCY 110, or SOCY 121
The purpose of this class is to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Appalachia,
its beauty, and its mischaracterization. You will learn about the diversity of Appalachia—its
cultures and dialects and how stereotyping and media misrepresentation have shaped
negative perceptions of the region. Additionally, we will explore and discuss competing
discourses—those of the culture of poverty and political economy as well as informal
economies. Power dynamics and exploitation of the region, particularly in extractive
industries, will also be discussed. Lastly, we will discuss Appalachians’ resilience
and grassroots efforts to improve the region. This course fulfills elective sociology
credits and may also be used to meet requirements for the Appalachian Studies minor.
Note(s): Cultural or Behavioral Analysis designated course. Students cannot receive credit
for both ANTH 411 and SOCY 411. This course may be used to meet requirements for the
minor in Appalachian Studies.
Detailed Description of Content of the Course
The content may include:
I. The concept of culture and social science perspectives.
II. Is a unique Appalachian subculture extant?
A. Describing Appalachian culture
1. Economic structure
a. adaptive strategies: hunting/gathering, horticulture/agriculture,
lumber, mines, other industry
b. correlates of adaptive strategy
1) style of work: non-routinized/routinized
2) mode of production: mode of production for use/mode of production for exchange
3) orientation toward time: past/present/future
4) orientation toward land: land as "place"/land as "property"
2. Social organization
a. kinship structure
1) the nuclear family and the ex-tended kin network
2) household composition
b. settlement and community: peer group conformity vs. individualism
c. social stratification
1) Is the community egalitarian?
2) Does "more urban" equal"higher status"?
3. Religion and cosmology
a. fundamentalism
b. lineal and non-lineal (non-discursive or intuitive) modes of thought
B. Stereotypes and caricature of "Mountain People"
1. Individualism
2. Fatalism
3. Otherworldliness
4. Traditionalism
C. Analyzing Inconsistencies
D. Analyzing the "uniqueness" of Appalachian culture
1. Explanatory models
a. Toennies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft
b. Cooley's primary/secondary groups
c. Parson's "pattern variables"
d. Durkheim's mechanical/organic solidarity
e. Redfield's folk/urban continuum
f. Gans' person/object orientation
2. Do the models fit rural cultures around the world?
a. cross-cultural perspective on rural/urban differences
b. Do the models fit Appalachia?
III. Explaining the nature of Appalachian culture
A. Culture as epiphenomenon
1. the environmental determinism approach to Appalachian culture
2. the technological determinism approach
3. the "culture of poverty" model
4. the social structural approach (internal colonialism, class model, metropolis/satellite model)
B. Culture as basic structure
1. the cognitive approach (ethnoscience)
2. the structuralist approach
IV. Culture change in Appalachia--Post World War II
A. Change in economic structure
B. Change in social organization
C. Change in religion and world view
D. What has remained unchanging?
V. Discovering and rediscovering Appalachian culture
A. Discovery of Appalachia in social science
B. The Appalachian "Myth" as an expression of bipolar strains in American culture
Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
A lecture/discussion and in-class writing approach is used, which encourages students
to exchange information about their own respective cultural backgrounds and their
perceptions of Appalachian and non-Appalachian cultures.
Goals and Objectives of Course
Students will be introduced to the cultures of the Appalachian region of which Radford
University is a part. Having successfully completed this course, students will:
· have knowledge of the diversity of cultures within the Appalachian region
· exercise critical thinking to understand the cultures of the Appalachian
region as cultural systems with both internal integrity and external influences
· be able to analyze the importance of the environment in understanding Appalachian
cultures and their current conditions
Assessment Measures
Graded and checked assignments may include in-class or take-home examinations and
quizzes, homework assignments, in-class writing, and in-class discussions. Journals
may be required and checked periodically. Formal oral presentations may be required.
Other Course Information
None
Review and Approval
DATE ACTION REVIEWED
February 2009, Dr. Paula Brush, Chair, Department of Sociology
March 01, 2021