Dr. Ben Bankhurst presents “Ballads, Storytelling, and the Scot-Irish Diaspora: Cecil Sharp and the Appalachian Story”

This lecture is being presented as part of the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Program. Free and open to the public.

Dr. Benjamin Bankhurst received his BA degree from the University of New Mexico and
his Masters and Ph.D. from Kings College, University of London. Dr. Bankhurst’s research focuses
on migration to the Appalachian frontier in the colonial and revolutionary periods. Before Joining
the History Department at Shepherd, Dr. Bankhurst held teaching and research appointments at
the London School of Economics; the Institute of Historical Research; and Queen Mary, University
of London. His articles have appeared in the Pennsylvania Magazine for History and Biography,
The Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies, and Eire/Ireland. The American Council for Irish Studies
awarded his first book Ulster Presbyterians and the Scots Irish Diaspora, 1750-1763 (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013) the Donald Murphy Prize.