Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth

NOW
AVAILABLE

Finding the Singing Spruce: Musical Instrument Makers and Appalachia’s Mountain Forests Now available to order from West Virginia University Press and online retailers!

“A nuanced academic contribution to both human and environmental Appalachian studies — but it is also a collection of accessible stories about people, places, and instruments.”

Aaron Allen, coeditor of Current Directions in Ecomusicology: Music, Culture, Nature

Environment, museums and archives, and community partnerships through craft and ethnography

Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth is a folklorist and cultural anthropologist who uses ethnography as a tool for studying craft and creative expression, environmental connections, museum and archival practices, and possibilities for equitable collaboration between institutions and communities

Through 15 years of experience conducting ethnographic research, I have sought to use the tools of ethnography to explore the intersections of craft, music, and environmental issues, conduct more equitable qualitative research, and connect the materials of museums and archives to the broader world.

Since 2008, I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork throughout the United States, Amazonia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Partnering with large institutions, small non-profits, and individuals, I have sought to make ethnography a more collaborative practice that still retains its critical edge and insight.

I am particularly interested in the global connections that flow through the communities, cultural heritage practices, and mountain forests that constitute and sustain Appalachia. My work in the region brings together ethnographic fieldwork, forest ecology, industrial history, archaeology, and folklore to produce a wide vision of the region and insight into its future.

Check out some of my current and past work below!

Craft and Environment

Learn more about my ethnographic research documenting and interpreting the intersections of craft and environment.

Museums and Archives

Learn more about my work placing museums and archives in local and global contexts.

Collaboration and Community

Learn more about my practice of collaborative ethnography and community-engaged methods.

Awards & Recognitions

  • Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant (2017)

    Lambda Alpha Graduate Research Award (2017)

    University of Kentucky James S. Brown Graduate Student Award (2017)

    The Ohio State University Global Arts & Humanities Faculty Fellowship (2021)

  • University of Kentucky Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching (2017)

    University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Certificate for Outstanding Teaching (2016)