UK Alum is Editor of New Book on Changes in Appalachia

By Samantha Ponder

University of Kentucky alumna Rebecca Adkins Fletcher is one of the editors of the new book “Appalachia Revisited: New Perspectives on Place, Tradition, and Progress,” published by University Press of Kentucky. The book's contributors explore how the Appalachia region has changed in recent years.

“Appalachia Revisited” is the story of how the Appalachia region is being viewed within and beyond its borders. Fletcher and co-editor, William Schumann, gather both scholars and nonprofit practitioners to explore how Appalachia is being observed after some of its most recent changes.

Inside the new book, readers will find a variety of different topics that are being studied, including race and gender, environmental transformation, university-community collaborations, cyber identities, fracking, contemporary activist strategies and Appalachia in the context of local-to-global change. The publication is a "must read" for scholars, students and policymakers of Appalachia alike.

“Appalachia Revisited” is one of five in a UPK series of books about Appalachia called, "Place Matters: New Directions in Appalachian Studies." The series is edited by UK Professor of Sociology Dwight B. Billings.

Rebecca Adkins Fletcher earned her master's degree in of anthropology from UK in 2003 and her doctoral degree in anthropology from UK in 2011. In addition to her master's and doctoral degrees, Fletcher also obtained a graduate certificate in gender and women's studies from UK in 2009. Fletcher is an assistant professor in the Department of Appalachian Studies and assistant director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University.

Co-editor, William Schumann, is currently the director of the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University. 

UPK is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, representing a consortium that includes all of the state universities, five private colleges, and two historical societies. The press’ editorial program focuses on the humanities and the social sciences. Offices for the administrative, editorial, production and marketing departments of the press are found at UK, which provides financial support toward the operating expenses of the publishing operation through the UK Libraries.