Year of Publication
2025
College
Undergraduate Education
Abstract
Inspired by a quote from Wendell Berry’s 1987 essay, “Preserving Wildness” in his book Home Economics, this thesis explores how Appalachian craft schools serve as case studies for culturally embedded sustainability through centering traditional folk craft. By developing Berry’s concept of craftsmanship into a social and economic framework, the author analyzes the contemporary legacies of Hindman and Pine Mountain Settlement Schools, examining the relationship between maker and place, present and future, and process and product. Conscious of a rapidly shifting economy and labor market, the study considers how craft as a practice reinforces human obligations to each other and the environment, and how craft today responds to local needs and heals collective traumas.
Recommended Citation
Caya, Alycie, "'Careful, considerate, and loving work': Case Studies on Culturally Embedded Sustainability in Appalachian Craft and the Economics of Craftsmanship" (2025). Gaines Fellow Senior Theses. 37.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gaines_theses/37
