Zada Komara
Lecturer, Affiliate faculty member in Anthropology and Appalachian Studies, UK Lewis Honors College
Administrator, Coal Camp Documentary Project
Zada Komara is an award-winning Senior Lecturer in the Lewis Honors College. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Appalachian Studies Program and in the Department of Anthropology. Her accolades include the Travis Stimeling Early Career Award for Excellence in Teaching Appalachian Studies, the 2025 Outstanding Teaching Award, and the 2024 Great Teacher award from the University of Kentucky Alumni Association. She has a B.A. in Anthropology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Kentucky. Her focus is archaeology of the recent past in Kentucky and Central Appalachia, oral history, public history, and general material culture studies. Komara was also appointed by Gov. Andy Beshear to the Kentucky Oral History Commission as a result of her oral history expertise. Her work focuses on contemporary archaeology of urban spaces and early 20th-century company coal towns and explores the entanglement of material culture (the everyday goods that populate our lives) with persistent stereotypes and narratives about the Appalachian region.
Contact Information
zadakomara@uky.edu
Donovan 002E
859-323-8579
Education
B.A. Anthropology, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; MA in Anthropology, University of Kentucky; Ph.D., University of Kentucky
Affiliations
- Anthropology
- Appalachian Center
- University of Kentucky Appalachian Center
- Lewis Honors College
- Appalachian Studies Association