The Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center is the home of several programs that enhance the Appalachian experience.
The Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center (ARRSC) provides students with an understanding of the heritages, environments and cultures of the Appalachian region. Moreover, ARRSC faculty and support personnel engage in various forms of community outreach and are available to support student and public research.
The Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center's Appalachian Folklife Archives, some 600 unique field collection projects and their accompanying recordings, videotapes, slides and photographs, are located in McConnell Library.
The ARRSC’s Main Archive of approximately 800 Appalachian literary, media, history, sociology and anthropology projects is also housed in McConnell Library. For those interested in searching any of these collections, please go to Appalachian Collection Finding Aids or contact Bud Bennett 540-831-5694 or brbennet@radford.edu for an appointment.
The Appalachian Arts and Studies in the Schools (AASIS) program is funded by a private benefactor and is designed to achieve two goals:
High school teachers from participating schools collaborate and prepare lessons for their students on various aspects of Appalachian studies. Each teacher also chooses ten AASIS Scholars, high school students identified by their teachers as "college-able, but not necessarily college-bound."
Each student participating in AASIS becomes a mentor to two AASIS Scholars. Mentors visit their AASIS Scholars' school twice during the school year to make presentations about college life and about Appalachian studies. Mentors also act as hosts and tour guides for their AASIS Scholars during two field trips to the Radford University campus, one in the fall semester and one in the spring.
AASIS Mentors and Scholars get to know each other and keep in touch throughout the year via letters and email.
The Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI) is a grant-funded opportunity from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and Radford University has participated since the project’s inception.
Every year in the fall semester, students enrolled in the ACRI-designated class (typically APST 495/595) respond to the ARC’s question, “How do we build sustainable Appalachian communities?” Our students have responded with projects focused on our AASIS program, place-based education, and addressing and eradicating drug abuse.
In December, students present their research before ARC officials, as well as students and representatives from the other participating schools.
More information about the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative, which is administered by East Tennessee State University, can be found by visiting http://www.etsu.edu/cass/projects/.
The Farm at Selu Conservancy features a farmhouse typical of the 1930s time period. It also features original and restored outbuildings used by a farm family of that era.
The Appalachian Studies program interprets farm and home life for students, public and private schools in the region, and community residents.
Traditional folkways, folk architecture, and oral history of the region are all part of the offerings at The Farm at Selu, a component of Radford University Foundation's 375-acre cultural and environmental preserve on the Little River.
Radford University has partnered with Georgetown University, Columbia University,
and Indiana University of Pennsylvania to offer undergraduate students an experiential
negotiation and conflict resolution program, Power of Dialogue: Deconstructing the
Rural-Urban Divide.