I was born in Portsmouth, a city in Scioto County, Ohio but left the region when I was three years of age. My mother with her family roots from West Virginia family relocated with my father, a native of Brooklyn, New York, to Long Island where I resided through most of my high school years. The death of my father was the reason for my mother’s return to Ohio. While, I had long thought of myself more in terms of my New York roots, after many years of living in Appalachian Ohio came to realize that I was truly an Appalachian. Being raised in a different place was not enough to destroy the powerful influence of a mother who was grounded in the culture of Appalachia. Throughout my life I have wrestled with my interest in being part of a more metropolitan lifestyle and my love and comfort in Appalachian Ohio. Over the years my interests in Appalachia have continued to grow.
I am a registered nurse earning my first degree in Associate Degree Nursing at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio. My bachelor of science in nursing was completed at Ohio University School of Nursing in Athens, Ohio and my master’s of science in nursing at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Kentucky. Doctoral studies were completed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where I earned a Doctor of Science in Nursing and focused on community and mental health nursing. My dissertation work was on the topic of family health in Appalachian people and was the beginning of scholarly interests in these areas. Over the years, a number of research studies have been conducted with Appalachian populations. Findings about topics related to family health issues including, bereavement, abuse and violence, tobacco use, and family routines have been published.
My interest in starting a Appalachian Learning Community about Appalachia was tied to my strong values of interdisciplinary fields of studies. I have a strong interest in identifying better ways to communicate knowledge, raise and consider rival questions relevant to knowledge discovery, deliberate about common themes while increasing personal tolerance for diversity, and investigate disparate topical nuances that lead to critical analysis of issues rather than mere acceptance of the status quo. I am interested in perspectives that foster reflection about areas of thought and knowledge that cut across learning issues with broad implications for teachers and learners. I perceived the personal benefit from participation in a Appalachian Learning Community as an opportunity to embark on a learning-journey with persons from different areas of academia and investigate less-explored aspects of teaching and learning that impact the culture of critical engagement. I view the outcome of participation as personally enriching and motivational for enhancing my teaching abilities and capacity to collaborate with others.
I was initially interested in the SCOPE OHIO project as a way to investigate teaching and learning in and about Appalachian communities. I have been active in several professional Appalachian groups over the last few years and have been increasingly interested in cultural issues. I am concerned that students and faculty too often focus on the history of Appalachia and fail to observe the discontinuity between the past, present, and future. I am concerned that teaching and learning is too often focused on sociological and historical issues of the past that result in stereotypical representation of people and the region rather than exploring new knowledge that calls these perspectives into question. Ohio University is in the heart of Appalachian Ohio, one of the oldest universities within Appalachia, and an important institution that has increased the educational advantages for those residing in Ohio’s 29 Appalachian counties. The Appalachian Learning Community seemed a meaningful place to explore teaching and learning in and about Appalachia while also contemplating with others what this means and how it could be addressed at Ohio University in more effective ways.