Faculty and Staff Profile

John Coggeshall

Educational Background

Ph.D. Anthropology
Southern Illinois University - Carbondale 1984

M.A. Behavioral Science
Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville 1978

B.A. Anthropology
Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville 1975

Courses Taught

Introduction to Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology
North American Indian Cultures
Ethnographic Fieldwork
Theories in Anthropology

Profile

I have recently published a book entitled "Something in these hills: the culture of family land in southern Appalachia" (U North Carolina Press, 2022) about the symbolic meaning of land for families in Upstate SC. I have also published a second book, an oral history of "Liberia, South Carolina," about an enclave community in upper Pickens County founded by freed slaves in 1865 (UNC Press, 2018). I am currently working on a third book, "A Slow Life But a Good Life," a collection of stories from people in Upstate SC.

Research Interests

U.S. regional and ethnic cultures. Specific research interests include the cultural history of the SC mountains, traditional cultures in the Midwest and Carolinas, heritage tourism, gated communities, ethical issues in ethnographic research, and undergraduate pedagogy.

Research Publications

"Something in these hills: the culture of family land in southern Appalachia" (UNC Press, 2022)

"Liberia, South Carolina: An African American Appalachian Community" (UNC Press, 2018)

Soapstone Church Heritage Project, Pickens County Accommodations Tax, 2010. $7,500.

"Symbols of Division: Plantations Along South Carolina's Coast," Home Cultures: the Journal of Architecture, Design, and Domestic Space, 5:1 (2008), pp. 49-64.

Jocassee Gorges Cultural History Project, Duke Energy Foundation, 2006. $5,000. Renewed 2008 $4,500.

"Mountains of Menace and Majesty: Memories in the Jocassee Gorges Region of Upstate South Carolina," Southern Anthropological Society, Staunton, VA, March 2008.

"Negotiating Private History Into Public Space: Collaboration with an African-American Community," American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, CA, November 2008.

Honors and Awards

Erasmus Scholar, Charles University, Prague (Czech Republic) Fall Semester 2019

Trevillian Professorship, College of Business and Behavioral Science (2016)

The Thomas Green Clemson Award for Excellence (2010)

Links