Preserving Traditional Culture in the Cumberland Gap Region

Abstract

Abstract In 2010, Lincoln Memorial University completed two cycles of an Appalachian College Association and University of North Carolina, Asheville (ACA-UNCA) undergraduate research project partnership. The focus of the grant was incorporated into a class entitled Crafts to Culture. The primary mission of the course was to record and preserve the stories and work of craftspeople identified in Bell County, Kentucky; Claiborne County, Tennessee; and Lee County, Virginia. Students explored and analyzed traditional art from the Cumberland Gap region with an emphasis on family traditions, techniques, and the unique characteristics of each craft. An additional course objective was to give students practical skills in the areas of history, art, and communications. Three different academic disciplines were combined with independent goals as students worked together as a group. First, history students gained oral history experience—through interview preparation and practice, recording, transcription, and publications. Second, art students gained art experience by learning the craft traditions from an expert and by replicating a product using the learned technique. Third, broadcast communication students gained communications experience through audio and video recording, editing, and publishing. Teamwork was a byproduct of this project as all of the students needed to work together. This paper reports on an Undergraduate Research Grant Project advisor’s mentoring experience.