Shepherd University Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities

04/23/2026

Join us for a celebration of our graduates tonight!

03/18/2026

Inside Appalachia has reposted a fascinating interview with Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, the 2025 Appalachian Heritage Writer in Residence. Catch it while you can!

03/12/2026

Inside Appalachia is looking for some folkways reporters. Check out this opportunity.

Organization: West Virginia Public BroadcastingLocation: RemoteEmployment Type: Contract The Inside Appalachia team is expanding its Folkways Reporting

03/06/2026

Join Shepherd University Lifelong Learning Program and us for:

SOCIAL JUSTICE IN APPALACHIA: REFLECTIONS ON THE HIGHLANDER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER
Monday, March 9
SPEAKER: Dr. Linda Tate
LOCATION: Robert C. Byrd Center, Multipurpose Room (and Zoom)
TIME: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
COST: $15; Free for Spring subscribers and SU students and employees
https://shepherdlifelonglearning.totalcamps.com/shop/EVENT

Strongly influenced by his professor Reinhold Niebuhr, Myles Horton co-founded the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, in 1932. Originally focused on labor organizing, Highlander went on to play a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, as it trained activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Ralph Abernathy, and many others. Backlash against its involvement with the Civil Rights Movement led to the school’s closure by the state of Tennessee in 1961. The school was reorganized and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where it was rechartered as the Highlander Research and Education Center. Highlander has been in its current home in New Market, Tennessee, since 1971. Horton retired in 1969. One of the subsequent directors was Helen Mathews Lewis, author of Living Social Justice in Appalachia and widely considered to be the “Mother of Appalachian Studies.” Featuring historical background and personal reflections, this lecture will highlight Horton’s philosophy and the Highlander “method,” trace the connection between Highlander and Appalachian studies as a field of study and service, and consider the links between Highlander and the origins of Shepherd University’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities.

About the Speaker: Dr. Linda Tate is a former Professor of English at Shepherd University and was named 2003 West Virginia Professor of the Year. Dr. Tate taught American literature, African American literature and culture, Appalachian literature and culture, technical communication, and first-year writing. Dr. Tate team-taught travel courses, including courses on American transcendentalism and the ethnic literature of New York City. She coordinated Shepherd’s year-long “Global Horizons: West Africa” program and led a group of students and community members to Senegal. Her most rewarding accomplishment at Shepherd was cofounding (with Rachael Meads) the Appalachian Heritage Festival and spearheading what became the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence program. Dr. Tate is the author of two books: A Southern Weave of Women: Fiction of the Contemporary South and Power in the Blood: A Family Narrative. She is working on a new memoir, I Found Love, and It Did Not Leave Me.

The official Web site of Shepherd University, a liberal arts institution located one hour from Washington, D.C., in historic Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

02/17/2026

02/15/2026

Join us to chase away winter at an Appalachian Mardi Gras at Alma Bea this afternoon.

02/09/2026

Join us for an intriguing discussion on Friday, February 13! Co-sponsored with Historic Shepherdstown

Title: Lord Dunmore’s War: The Final Colonial Conflict or the Beginnings of a Revolution?
Speaker: Christopher Rizer, Director of Main Street Point Pleasant
Time and Venue: 6:00pm, Friday 2/13, Byrd Auditorium, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education

Fought in October 1774 between Virginian militiamen and a Native American confederacy, the Battle of Point Pleasant was of supreme importance to the settlement of Trans-Allegheny Virginia, the western expansion of the British colonies and later the fledgling United States, and the continued souring of relations with Native tribes in the Ohio Country. Decades later and continuing to this day, debate has raged over the Battle’s importance to the burgeoning Revolutionary movements in the Colonies.

Utilizing a concise description of the campaign and its aftermath based solely on first-hand primary sources, later histories, interpretations, and local memory are evaluated and placed into their proper context. Through the accounts of Lord Dunmore’s War and later histories, it is made clear the war was fought primarily over control of land, an economic resource important enough to secure cooperation between representatives of the British government and the colonists. Such an evaluation also dispels later myths such as Dunmore’s supposed cooperation with the Shawnee, the imagined Revolutionary zeal of the Virginians while on campaign, and Congress’ recognition of the Battle of Point Pleasant as an event of the Revolution. For these reasons, while profoundly important to the Revolutionary era and the western expansion of the United States, the Battle of Point Pleasant cannot be considered the first battle of the American Revolution.

02/05/2026

Step into one of West Virginia’s most enduring mysteries with a special screening of The Mothman Prophecies (2002), the cult classic supernatural thriller based on real events from Point Pleasant, WV, home to the legendary Mothman sightings of the 1960s.

Starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney, this eerie, atmospheric film blends mystery, folklore, and psychological suspense as a reporter follows uncanny clues to a small riverside town haunted by strange visions, unexplained phenomena, and a creature with glowing red eyes.

Before the film, we’ll hear introductory remarks by Mr. Chris Rizer, Executive Director of Main Street Point Pleasant and lifelong resident of the area, on the real-life lore behind the story, from the mysterious sightings to how this curious legend helped put Point Pleasant on the map and inspire festivals, museums, and countless debates.

Stay after the screening for a Q&A discussion with Professor Benjamin Bankhurst, Director of Shepherd University’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities, and Mr. Rizer—an opportunity to separate fact from fiction, explore local lore, and hear from experts deeply knowledgeable about the region and the legend.

Whether you’re a fan of this classic film, fascinated by cryptids and Appalachian folklore, or simply curious about the true stories behind Hollywood’s take on Mothman, this is a special night to explore one of West Virginia’s best-known mysteries.

Thursday, February 12, 7pm
Shepherdstown Opera House
Admission: Pay-What-You-Can
Tickets and more information: https://operahouselive.com/feb-12-the-mothman-prophecies/

02/02/2026

Join us at Alma Bea on February 15!

01/22/2026

Congratulations to Mary Ellen Diaz, owner of Alma Bea restaurant, on being a James Beard Award semi-finalist. Her dedication to preserving Appalachian foodways and commitment to showcasing our culture is truly extraordinary. Well-deserved recognition for a chef with a heart for building community cooking from the soul.

One of our Wonder Women is getting well-deserved national recognition—and we could not be more proud!

Huge congratulations to Mary Ellen Diaz of Alma Bea , who has been named a Top 20 Chef semifinalist in the six-state Southeast region for the James Beard Foundation Award. 🏆✨

If you know her food, you know this honor has been a long time coming. Thoughtful. Seasonal. Rooted in place. Mary Ellen’s work celebrates West Virginia in every bite, and this recognition shines a national spotlight on exactly that.

So well deserved. So proud. And cheering loud from the Mountain State. 💛💙

🔗 Read more about the nomination at the link: jamesbeard.org/stories/james-beard-award-semifinalists-2026