ISSUED: 10 April 2014
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, professor of English and modern languages at Shepherd University, has been elected president of the Appalachian Studies Association for 2014-15.
Shurbutt coordinates the Appalachian Studies program at Shepherd, which includes the Appalachian Studies minor, the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence project, the West Virginia FictionCompetition, the Celtic Roots Travel Adventures, and the annual “Anthology of Appalachian Writers.”
The Appalachian Studies Association is a national and international organization, with an annual conference which brings together more than 800 scholars, teachers, and community organizers each year to explore topics and the arts associated with the region. Shurbutt will bring the conference to Shepherdstown March 25-26, 2016 when the theme “Voices From the Misty Mountains: Diversity and the New Appalachia” will be explored by scholars, writers, and presenters. Grants from the West Virginia Humanities Council will allow community members to attend some of the event programs and sessions.
The Appalachian Studies Association is an interdisciplinary organization formed in 1977 by scholars, teachers, and regional activists who “believed that a shared community has been and will continue to be important to those writing, researching, and teaching about Appalachia.”
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