Zada Komara

Zada Komara serves as a Lecturer in the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky. Additionally, she is an affiliate faculty member in both the Appalachian Studies Program and the Department of Anthropology, reflecting her interdisciplinary engagement with Appalachian culture and history.

Her academic credentials include a B.A. in Anthropology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Komara's research centers on the archaeology of the recent past in Central and Southern Appalachia, with a specific focus on early 20th-century company coal towns. She investigates how material culture—the everyday objects that populate human lives—intersects with enduring stereotypes and narratives about the Appalachian region. Her scholarly work also extends to oral history, public history, and broader material culture studies, contributing to a nuanced understanding of Appalachian identity and heritage.

She actively contributes to the documentation of Appalachian history through her administration of the UK Appalachian Center's Coal Camp Documentary Project, a collaborative initiative that records the histories of company coal towns in all 54 of Kentucky's Appalachian counties.