The Appalachian, Scottish and Irish Studies (ASIS) program, part of ETSU’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Services, had a successful and enjoyable trip to Scotland this summer conducting research on Scottish culture at the university of Edinburgh’s prestigious School of Scottish Studies.
A group of 12 students, along with Dr. Ted Olson, director of ASIS, and Dr. Teresa Lloyd, assistant coordinator, arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 15. Dr. Richard Blaustein of ETSU’s anthropology department, and Dr. Joseph Sobol, director of ETSU’s storytelling program, gave lectures as well.
Students were required to take 3-6 credit hours in the area(s) of their choosing.
The courses offered concentrated on Scottish material culture, musical tradition and narrative (both literature and storytelling).
The fee for the course abroad, which covered all fees except for tuition and spending money, totaled $2,500.
Some meals were provided at no cost.
For three weeks out of the five-week course the students and faculty stayed in quiet flats at the University of Edinburgh’s Hermit’s Croft.
Additional meetings were held on the ETSU campus prior to the trip to discuss research topics.
Lloyd said that there are amazing similarities between Scottish culture and our own here in East Tennessee.
She said one really gets a sense of his/her own background.
“You really get the culture there,” she said.
Olson said that a trip such as this strengthens one’s appreciation for history.
Lloyd and Olson agreed that the Scottish people as a whole are very interested in Americans.
They said that everyone was always welcomed, and the people sometimes went out of their way to make the group feel comfortable.
“Scottish people are the friendliest people in the world,” Lloyd said.
Ernestine Upchurch, a non-traditional student, was eager to share her experience.
Upchurch, 64, said the trip was a mental challenge but well worth it.
“The experience was much more than I could have imagined.”
College students of all ages are encouraged to take the course abroad.
A wide variety of people attended the course this summer.
Olson said the diversity of the group enhances the trip.
“This it the best kind of academic experience I can think of,” Lloyd said.
Upchurch suggested that participants would benefit from an energetic personality and should be interested in the connection of Scottish and Appalachian folkways.
“I would recommend the course for any student of the humanities, especially the social sciences,” she said.
The program began under the leadership of now retired ETSU English professor Thomas Burton in 1988.
Dr. Stevan Jackson led the program from 1995-99 until Olson accepted the position.
Olson said that despite the name of the program (ASIS), most of the focus has been on the cultures of Scotland and Northern Ireland and their connection with Appalachian culture.
The course number for this class is presently being changed, but the course if offered every summer.
However, students will not have the opportunity to go to Scotland in the summer of 2002.
Instead, students from Scotland will attend ETSU next summer.
The focus will be on studying the Scotland and Appalachian connection as well as other ethnic influences, i.e. Cherokee, German and African American, on Appalachian culture.
Similar courses, such as Scottish and Irish literature and Scottish folklore, area also available on campus at various times throughout the school year.
For more information, contact Olson by phone at 439-4379 or by e-mail at olson@etsu.edu.

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