Despite natural beauty and strong ties to kinship and community, the Appalachian region has experienced economic and social disadvantages compared to other regions of the United States. Historically rural areas have been left by the wayside with little federal or state funding; rural areas received $401-$648 less per capita than their metropolitan counterparts in the years between 1994 and 2001(Kellogg Foundation, 2004). 42 percent of the population of Appalachia live in rural areas, compared to 20 percent nationally (Gohl, 2013). As of 2014 the poverty rate in Appalachia is 17.2 percent in comparison to the national average of 15.6 percent (ARC, 2016). Consequently Appalachian towns have been privy to anti-poverty policies and development work by the United States government for over half a century (Farmbry, 2014). But the anti-poverty measures did very little to change the region. In order to promote change and prosper as a region, many Appalachian towns have turned to using their cultural capital as a community development resource. As a tool in community building, cultural capital shifts the focus of a community away from its problems, towards its assets (Phillips and Shockley, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore how two rural Appalachian towns use cultural capital to impact their community's viability. To do so the researcher used qualitative interview methods and focus groups to understand the experiences of three leadership groups in each community. The findings of this study provide insight into how communities identify and operationalize their cultural capital, and what impact it has on their economic and social prosperity. Additional research should be done on community viability in rural areas, including community visioning, and power dynamics of rural spaces. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

The agricultural industry is changing every day, and new innovations are being developed faster than educational resources can be developed. Secondary agricultural education is faced with the challenges of keeping up with the changes in the industry. Determining how to bring cutting edge innovative content to the classroom is difficult and without a clear vision of what is relevant it is impossible. The purpose of this case study was to determine how modern agricultural education programs may be designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content. The researcher focused on the planning theory of (Cervero and Wilson, 2006), as well as the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (Rogers, 2003) for the theoretical framework of the research. The case study used a qualitative approach to examine the phenomenological views of stakeholders and artifacts collected to support the innovative program design. This qualitative study used interviews to describe and find the meanings to how modern agricultural education programs may be designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content. The findings of this study delivered a clear picture of this innovative agricultural education program. There were five categories and nine themes to emerge from the data collected, these categories and themes support the role the participants have played in the design and development of this innovative agricultural education program. The study showed that teachers were the key to a successful program. Teachers were then connected to professional development, program support, curriculum, and expectations of students at the end of their agricultural education program. / PHD / This case study looked at a modern rural high school agricultural education program in Southwest Virginia. The purpose of the study was to determine how this modern agricultural education program was designed and developed to support innovative agricultural content. The researcher focused on the data collected to describe the methods and resources used to establish the current program. There were twenty-one stakeholders interviewed to examine their views and lived experiences during the development of the program, also artifacts were collected to support the innovative program design. The findings of this study delivered a clear picture of this innovative agricultural education program. There were five categories and nine themes to emerge from the data collected, these categories and themes support the role the participants played in the design and development of this innovative agricultural education program. The study showed that teachers were the key to a successful program. Teachers were then connected to professional development, program support, curriculum, and expectations of students at the end of their agricultural education program.