Neva J. Specht

Neva Jean Specht is Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of History at Appalachian State University and the University’s Liaison to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  She teaches courses on museum education, public programming, and material culture, as well as the history of pirates and the Blue Ridge Parkway. A native Iowan, Specht received her B.A. from Grinnell College and her M.A., Museum Studies Certification, and Ph.D. from the University of Delaware.  Before coming to ASU in 1996, she worked for the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, Historical Society of Delaware, and the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY.  Her research has focused on community formation among the Society of Friends in trans-Appalachia in the years following the American Revolution.  She just completed a Historic Furnishing Report for the Blowing Rock home of Moses and Bertha Cone for the National Park Service.  Her current work explores how the digital humanities can be used by urban planners, historic preservationists, cultural resource organizations, and members of communities to preserve the history of place.  She has received the Transforming North Carolina Faculty Research Award; ASU Board of Governor’s Teaching Award; Jimmy Smith Service Award; and the Communal Studies Association Starting Scholar Award