Studying Religion & App State

The Course

In the spring semester of 2017, Dr. Sandie Gravett offered an online REL 4700 Capstone course entitled, “Studying Religion & App State.” Four students signed up. Throughout the semester, Duke Dyer, Claire Holland, Neil Smith, and Leila Wright worked to piece together a history of Appalachian State’s Religious Studies program and to relate it to how religious studies developed and evolved at public universities in the United States. At the conclusion of the semester, they presented their findings to the Religious Studies faculty, staff, students, and Appalachian State Administrative staff.

The Student Team

Duke Dyer is a senior Religious Studies major (class of 2017) with a minor in Supply Chain Management. The Capstone allowed him to learn more about the faculty that constantly challenges him to think more critically. After he graduates, he will move to D.C. to pursue a career in the IT industry.

Claire Holland is a junior Religious Studies major (Class of 2018) with minors in Non Profit Management and Social Work. Her favorite part of this Capstone was interviewing faculty and learning about the history of the program. After she graduates, she plans on receiving a Masters of Divinity and becoming a Deacon in the United Methodist Church.

Neil Smith is a junior Religious Studies major (Class of 2018) with a minor in History. The Capstone project led to a great appreciation for the department and the faculty of Religious Studies. He hopes to pursue a career that involves religion and history.

Leila Wright is a senior Religious Studies major (Class of 2017) with a minor in Psychology. She enjoyed this project because it allowed her to become more familiar with her professors and her fellow students. After she graduates, she will move to Glasgow, Scotland to serve as a Young Adult Volunteer for one year through the Presbyterian Church (USA). She plans to attend seminary in Fall 2018.

Credits and Thanks

Many people provided support for this project -- program faculty past and present, alumni, and students --certainly gave generously of their time and we are grateful. But we also need to thank people a few people directly.

Dr. Harvey Durham, long time Provost and former Chancellor, set the scene and offered us context for understanding the growth and development of the department and Appalachian State.

Kaye Barley, our Administrative guru for many years, jumped in with photographs on a moment's notice.

Greta Browning, Reference Archivist/Librarian, helped us navigate the archives -- all beautifully organized for ease of use.

Colleen Deal and Kenneth Kirksey in University Advancement generated and shared the lists of alumni.

Alice Fisher, our current Administrative guru, helped with many of the details on the invites and brochures and travel funds and a million other things.....as always.

Heather Langdon, Director of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning, ran figures for us of every class taught in the department since 1982 (thank you Banner) and provided data on our graduates in her "spare" time.

Mary Beth McKee, Instructional Technology Consultant, in the Center for Academic Excellence, answered a million questions and gave advice rapidly and helpfully. Our archive on Google and this page exist because of her assistance.

Our digital images of Appalachian materials come from Appalachian's State Digital Collections, ASU Publications and Resources, and people's personal files. For photographs of our faculty, we often turned to Google.

We used a variety of equipment from Appalachian State to do our video and audio recordings -- and sometimes our own handheld devices! Zoom technology via ASU and Google Voice made possible the remote interviews.

Nick Gallagher, a senior Communications major, helped verse our students in video editing. The videos we produced would not be possible with his advice and expertise.

Dr. Conrad Ostwalt featured our work on "Religion in Life" -- a production of AppTV. Thanks, too, to all of the students who work on the show, especially producer Madison Deitz.

Thanks, too, to Dr. Kevin Schilbrack for supporting the travel to SECSOR to talk to faculty and students from other programs.

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