Date of Award
2022
First Advisor
Sarah Snyder
Second Advisor
Thomas Coote
Abstract
Appalachia is home to a wealth of diversity, both in terms of the mountains’ variety of species and habitats and the cultural richness that has been fostered there. This environment has served as an American battleground for debates about identity, class, and environmentalism. As such, it provides an intriguing space to examine the relationship between humanity and the environment, more specifically the amphibians and reptilian inhabitants of the area. This research, composed of both independent interviews with Appalachians and a literature review, has led to the conclusion that Appalachia has largely been sculpted by three interrelated factors: the environment, isolation, and extraction. These three elements have shaped Appalachians’ complicated and diverse relationships to the herpetofauna that share the land.
Recommended Citation
Driscoll, Theodore, "Creeping Through the Mountains: an Analysis of Appalachian Culture through the Ethnoherpetological Lens" (2022). Senior Theses. 1572.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/sr-theses/1572
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