Michael Ann Williams

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Michael Ann Williams (born 1953) is an American Folklorist, recognised for her research into vernacular architecture, particularly in Appalachia.

She is Emeritus Professor of Folklore at Western Kentucky University.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

Williams attended Franklin and Marshall College, Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in anthropology.[2]

Williams undertook doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania, achieving a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife. Her dissertation supervisor was Don Yoder.[2] Her dissertation formed the basis of her book Homeplace: the social use and meaning of the folk dwelling in southwestern North Carolina (1991).[3]

Career[edit]

Williams was based at Western Kentucky University for her entire teaching career, starting in 1986. In 2004 she became Head of the newly created Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology: a role she continued to serve in until 2017.[4]

Williams also worked on various applied projects with her graduate students, including "an oral history project documenting the former logging town of Ravensford, North Carolina, part of a larger cultural resource documentation effort accompanying a transfer of land from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians".[4]

Recognition[edit]

Williams was president of the American Folklore Society between 2014 and 2015.[5] The title of her presidential address was "After the Revolution: Folklore, History, and the Future of Our Discipline".[2] In 2019, she received the AFS's Kenneth Goldstein Award for Lifetime Academic Leadership.[6]

Williams has also served as Vice president of the Vernacular Architecture Forum.[1]

Selected publications[edit]

  • Williams, Michael Ann; Dockery, Carl (1984). Marble & log: the history & architecture of Cherokee County, North Carolina. Murphy, N.C. (205 Peachtree St., Murphy 28906): Cherokee County Historical Museum Council, Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Dept. of Cultural Resources. OCLC 11188984.
  • Williams, Michael Ann (1987). "Rethinking the House: Interior Space and Social Change". Appalachian Journal. 14 (2): 174–182. ISSN 0090-3779.
  • Williams, Michael Ann (1991). Homeplace : the social use and meaning of the folk dwelling in southwestern North Carolina. Athens: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-1346-7. OCLC 22663492.
  • Williams, Michael Ann (1995). Great Smoky Mountains folklife. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-0-87805-791-7. OCLC 636093528.
  • Williams, Michael Ann; Young, M. Jane (1995). "Grammar, Codes, and Performance: Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Models in the Study of Vernacular Architecture". Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. 5: 40–51. doi:10.2307/3514244. ISSN 0887-9885.
  • Williams, Michael Ann; University of California, Berkeley; Center for Environmental Design Research (2000). Mobile/izing spatial scales: the shifting politics of tradititon. Berkeley, CA: IASTE, University of California at Berkeley. OCLC 223285975.
  • Williams, Michael Ann; Morrisey, Larry (2000). "Constructions of Tradition: Vernacular Architecture, Country Music, and Auto-Ethnography". Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. 8: 161–175. doi:10.2307/3514412. ISSN 0887-9885.
  • Williams, Michael Ann (2001). "Vernacular Architecture and the Park Removals: Traditionalization as Justification and Resistance". Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review. 13 (1): 33–42. ISSN 1050-2092.
  • Williams, Michael Ann (2005). "Selling Domestic Space: The Boarding House in the Southern Mountains". Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. 12: 1–10. ISSN 0887-9885.
  • Williams, Michael Ann (2006). Staging tradition: John Lair and Sarah Gertrude Knott. Urbana, Ill.; Chesham: University of Illinois Press ; Combined Academic [distributor. ISBN 978-0-252-03102-1. OCLC 1063396785.
  • Lloyd, Timothy; Williams, Michael Ann (2018-01-01). "A Conversation with Timothy Lloyd". Journal of American Folklore. 131 (521): 272–300. doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.131.521.0272. ISSN 0021-8715.
  • Williams, M. A. (2020). A Century of Folklore Research and Teaching at Western Kentucky. In P. Sawin & R. L. Zumwalt (Eds.), Folklore in the United States and Canada: An Institutional History (pp. 152–163). Indiana University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv16h2ngc.16
  • Williams, Michael Ann (2022-01-01). "Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography Horace Kephart: Writings". Journal of American Folklore. 135 (535): 120–121. doi:10.5406/15351882.135.535.20. ISSN 0021-8715.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Congratulations to Dr. Michael Ann Williams, University Distinguished Professor of Folk Studies, Emeritus". Potter College. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  2. ^ a b c Williams, Michael Ann (2017-01-01). "After the Revolution: Folklore, History, and the Future of Our Discipline (American Folklore Society Presidential Address, October 2015)". Journal of American Folklore. 130 (516): 129–141. doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.130.516.0129. ISSN 0021-8715. S2CID 163769527.
  3. ^ MacKinnon, Richard (1998-01-01). "Michael Ann Williams, Homeplace: The Social Use and Meaning of the Folk Dwelling in Southwestern North Carolina". Material Culture Review. ISSN 1927-9264.
  4. ^ a b "Retired Folk Studies and Anthropology Faculty | Western Kentucky University". www.wku.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  5. ^ "Past AFS Presidents". The American Folklore Society. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  6. ^ "Kenneth Goldstein Award for Lifetime Academic Leadership". The American Folklore Society. Retrieved 2022-04-18.

External links[edit]

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