Joos study on vernacular architecture of shotgun houses is influenced by history, sociology, and domesticity; he approaches the subjects in a multidisciplinary way. He uses ethnography, engineering, geography, and folklore to understand the needs and desires of the community after natural disasters.
Lau is a folklorist who studied African American shape note singing and helped found the Pauli Murray Project, an organization created to combat social inequalities and injustice.
Peterson is the director of the NCAC’s Folklife Program, overseeing grant programs, folklife projects, and traditional arts programming across the state.
Raised in the South, Wallace connected to her own family history and made discoveries about her hometown in her fieldwork about foodways, and she has used her talents as a writer and illustrator to illuminate hidden gems in North Carolina culture for national audiences.
As a testament to the power and importance of folklore in everyday life, Coyle has made contributions through teaching, fieldwork, research, and service to various organizations such as the National Park Service, NC Folklore Society, and Western Carolina University.
Carmine Prioli’s initial interest in boatbuilding evolved into years of caring, working, believing, struggling, hoping, giving, sometimes pushing hard, for the people who build, work, and appreciate not only those boats, but all the pieces of heritage on Harkers Island.
Thomas McGowan taught as a member of the English Department at Appalachian State University for thirty nine years (1972-2011). There he received high praise and recognition as a teacher and folklorist, with an emphasis on regional folklife and oral narratives.