Appalachia is foundational in the American cultural imagination, both lauded as a conceptual birthplace for folksy Americana and held as at arm’s length as a blighted internal Other. Perhaps even more significantly, it is a series of extraction sites, with coal mines and clear-cut forests spread all along the East Coast from Ohio to Georgia. In this course, we will examine how Appalachian people have engaged with the environment through artistic expression, including music, film, literature, material culture, and foodways. We will take a multimedia approach, combining relevant scholarly or secondary literature with critical media analysis.
Writing More-than-Human Worlds Syllabus, Fall 2021
“How do anthropologists write about, and with, nonhumans like animals, plants, and fungi? This course guides students in writing across species boundaries, drawing from writing that focuses on more-than-human relations in the social sciences and humanities. This is a W-Adv course, and as such students will be guided through the process of writing, reviewing, and editing using specialized language related to multispecies and more-than-human ethnography.”
Qualitative Methods for Environmental Anthropology Syllabus, Spring 2021
“This course will provide a foundational training in the core qualitative research methods, with an emphasis on applying those techniques to environmental questions. Methods covered in this course include classic social science method such as participant-observation and interviewing along with environmentally-focused methods including soundscape research and collaborative mapping. We will explore how those methods can be adapted to include considerations for nonhumans like animals, plants, mountains, and spirits. Course materials will include case studies drawn from across the social sciences and humanities. Students will have an opportunity to use these techniques through ethnographic research exercises that addresses nonhumans in the local environment.”
Music and the Environment in Northeast Asia Syllabus, Fall 2020
“This course introduces students to a survey of musical practices connected to the environment across Mongolia, Japan, Northern China, South Korea, and eastern Siberia. The goals of this course are to give students a broad knowledge of musical cultures in the region as well as an understanding of the ways people engage with the environment musically. We will take a multi-media approach, combining relevant scholarly or secondary literature with critical listening examples.”
This version of the syllabus is adapted to the particular constraints of Fall 2020’s ongoing pandemic and is meant to be flexible for this reason.
Fulbright-Hays DDRA Sample Research Proposal with Notes
Equestrian Statue of Chinggis Khan. 2015. Tsonjin Boldog, Mongolia. KG Hutchins.
The application season for the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad scholarship for 2020 is now open! For those applying, here is a copy of my successful grant proposal from 2016 with comments based on the feedback I received while going through the application process.
Mongolian Folk-Rock and Heavy Metal Playlist
Interested in Mongolian Folk-Rock? Check out this primer playlist with some greatest hits of Folk Music, Heavy Metal, and Rock from Mongolian artists including the HU, Khusugtun, Egschiglen, Urna Chahar-Tugchi, Tengger Cavalry, and more. Periodically updated as new music becomes available.