Department of Anthropology

Education:

Ph.D. 1974 University of California, Santa Barbara
M.A. 1971 University of California, Santa Barbara
B.A. 1969 University of California, Santa Barbara

Areas of Research/Interest:

Ethnicity, modernity, culture change, social organization, medical and applied anthropology; Mexican-Americans, Appalachians, United States.

Teaching:

Cultural Anthropology, Medical Anthropology, Qualitative Methods in Anthropology, Qualitative Research Methods, Applied Anthropology

Background:

Susan E. Keefe has done fieldwork in Mexico, in Barbados, among Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans in southern California, and among black and white Appalachian peoples in western North Carolina. She has authored and edited six books and monographs, including most recently Appalachian Cultural Competency: A Guide for Medical, Mental Health, and Social Service Professionals (2005) and Participatory Development in Appalachia: Cultural Identity, Community, and Sustainability (2009). She has published over 40 articles and chapters in professional journals and edited books. Her current research is focused on modernity in the mountains. At Appalachian State, she teaches cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, applied anthropology, and qualitative methods and has supervised over 300 student interns both locally and elsewhere in the nation and the world. Her teaching also includes mentoring graduate students, mostly in the Appalachian Studies and Sustainable Development programs. She has served on more than 15 Master's thesis committees in the last decade.

Personal Bio:

Sue Keefe was born in Spokane, Washington, and began her education in a rural one-room schoolhouse in Priest Lake, Idaho. As a girl, she moved with her family to southern California and ultimately attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in anthropology. She has lived in Blowing Rock, NC, for over 30 years where she enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, and practicing community! 

Representative Publications:

Keefe, Susan E.

2020 Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community. McFarland

2009 "Theorizing Modernity in Appalachia." Journal of Appalachian Studies.

2002 "Religious Healing in Southern Appalachian Communities." In Southern Heritage on Display: Public Ritual and Ethnic Diversity Within Southern Regionalism, Celeste Ray (ed.). Birmingham: University of Alabama Press, pp. 144-166.

1998 "Appalachian Americans: The Formation of Reluctant Ethics." In Many Americas: Critical Perspectives on Race, Racism and Ethnicity, Gregory R. Campbell (ed.). Dubuque, IO: Kendall/Hunt. Pp. 129-153.

Keefe, Susan E. (ed.)
2009 Participatory Development in Appalachia: Cultural Identity, Community, and Sustainability. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

2005 Appalachian Cultural Competency: A Guide for Medical, Mental Health, and Social Service Professionals. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.