Center for Appalachian Studies Board Members and Staff
Ally Wharton |
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| Title | History Major, APST Minor, and Student Member of the Board |
| AWhart02@rams.shepherd.edu ( Email ) | |
| Ally Wharton is a history major with minors in Appalachian studies and English. She serves on Shepherd University’s board for the Appalachian Studies Program as well as the committee for the Appalachian Heritage Writer-In-Reseidence, is an editor of the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, and is a judge of the West Virginia Fiction Competition. She is a also a 3-year alumna of the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop, has been selected to read at the AHWIR Master Class from 2015 onward, and is an intern for the 2019 West Virginia Writers’ Conference. Her poetry has appeared in various journals, including Maudlin House, Cheap Pop, Five2One Magazine, and Philosophical Idiot, and she is the author of the chapbook “Polarity” (Ghost City Press, 2019). | |
Dr. Andro Barnett |
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| Title | Professor and APST Board Member |
| abarnett@shepherd.edu ( Email ) | |
| Phone | 304-876-5259 |
| Butcher Center 216 | |
Dr. Ben Martz |
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| Title | Dean, College of Business and APST Board Member |
| bmartz@shepherd.edu ( Email ) | |
| Phone | 304-876-5007 |
| Contact For | Master of Business Administration |
Dr. Benjamin Bankhurst |
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| Title | Assistant Professor of History and APST Board Member |
| bbankhur@shepherd.edu ( Email ) | |
| Phone | 304-876-5253 |
| Colonial and Revolutionary North America, Appalachian History and Culture, Atlantic History, Ireland and the Irish Diaspora Ph.D., King’s College, University of London M.A., King’s College, University of London B.A., University of New Mexico Dr. Bankhurst’s research focuses on migration to the Appalachian frontier in the colonial and revolutionary periods. Before Joining the History Department at Shepherd, Dr. Bankhurst held teaching and research appointments at the London School of Economics; the Institute of Historical Research; and Queen Mary, University of London. His articles have appeared in the Pennsylvania Magazine for History and Biography, The Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies, and Eire/Ireland. The American Council for Irish Studies awarded his first book Ulster Presbyterians and the Scots Irish Diaspora, 1750-1763 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) the Donald Murphy Prize. |
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Dr. Jeffrey Groff |
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| Title | Associate Professor of Physics, Chair, Institute of Environmental and Physical Sciences and APST Board Member |
| jgroff@shepherd.edu ( Email ) | |
| Phone | 304-876-5143 |
| Education: B.A. McDaniel College M.S. The College of William & Mary Ph.D. The College of William & Mary |
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Rachael Meads |
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| Title | Assistant Director of Student Engagement and APST Board Member |
| rmeads@shepherd.edu ( Email ) | |
| Phone | 304-876-5113 |
| Courses: Appalachian Culture (APST 256/556), Appalachian Music and Ethnomusicology (APST 343/543) M.A., West Virginia University B.A., Shepherd College Rachael Meads is an educator, mother, and advocate for Appalachia, social justice, and the power of shared experiences to connect communities. As the Assistant Director of Student Engagement at Shepherd, she environmentally engineers learning opportunities for students and the greater community. Each year she oversees more than 175 events including the annual student leadership conference, Program Board activities, and the Performing Arts Series at Shepherd. Born and raised in Gilmer County, she is a passionate West Virginian who teaches in Shepherd’s Appalachian Studies program. She is the founder of the Appalachian Heritage Festival at Shepherd, a guest lecturer in the NEH Teacher Training Institute held at Shepherd, and a former program chair for the Appalachian Studies Association annual conference. In March 2018, she was honored to receive Shepherd’s Phenomenal Woman Award. She loves stories, gardening, singing with her family, podcasts, and homegrown tomatoes. Rachael Meads, Professional Vitae |
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Adam Booth |
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| Title | Coordinator of Speak Storytelling Series |
| adam@adam-booth.com ( Email ) | |
| Phone | 304-886-9481 |
| Adam Booth is an award-winning storyteller and adjunct professor in the Appalachian Studies Program at Shepherd, teaching storytelling and traditional music. Booth holds an MM degree from Case Western Reserve University in Music History, graduating magna cum laude. Adam Booth’s original stories blend traditional mountain folklore, music, and an awareness of contemporary Appalachia. He has been featured at the International Storytelling Center, the National Storytelling Festival, the Appalachian Studies Association Conference, the National Storytelling Conference, and has been a Spoken Word Resident at the Banff Centre. His recordings have received two Parents’ Choice Silver Honors and three Storytelling World Awards and Honors. He is a four-time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest. Booth is founder and coordinator for the acclaimed Speak Storytelling Series, a nationally and internationally recognized program of storyteller and part of the Appalachian Studies Program at Shepherd University. adam-booth.com |
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Dr. Sylvia Shurbutt |
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| Title | Director, Center of Appalachian Studies and Communities and APST Board Member |
| sshurbut@shepherd.edu ( Email ) | |
| Phone | 304-876-5207 |
| Dr. Shurbutt is an Appalachian scholar and teacher whose research has dealt with most of the major writers and figures in the region: Frank X Walker, Crystal Wilkinson, Charles Frazier, Wiley Cash, Ron Rash, Nikki Giovanni, Silas House, Jayne Anne Phillips, Fred Chappell, Robert Morgan, Denise Giardina, and others. She was the 2015 President of the Appalachian Studies Association, 2016 ASA International Conference Chair, and Director of the National Endowment for the Humanities Teacher Institute: Voices from the Misty Mountains and the Power of Storytelling (2013-). Shurbutt is editor of the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, was State Chair of the WV Advisory Council of Faculty and ACF Legislative Coordinator, served as a Trustee for the Contemporary American Theater Festival (2009-19), is a member of the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere, UK, and was the 2006 West Virginia Professor of the Year. Shurbutt enjoys biking, hiking, music of all kinds, and travel, both here and abroad–particularly to New Zealand to visit her daughter Rae and her family. She is the originator of the Shepherd University Celtic Roots and Global Appalachia Program which encourages travel abroad and study abroad. Shurbutt has spear-headed the development of the three current APST curricular programs at the Shepherd University: the APST minor, the graduate certificate, and the MA in Appalachian Studies. Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, Professional Vitae |
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