Smith, A.M.(Editor). (2024) Crafting community: Essays on fiber arts and belonging. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishers.
This book explores the threads between community building and fiber arts. Essays explore a variety of communities, different types of crafts, and the unique spaces and places where those communities exist. Readers will get a sense of how community is established, supported, and deconstructed to better understand the benefits they hold for community members. Thinking about how the communities work and why members join and stay within them offers the reader a rich view into the world of fiber arts and the communities within.
Smith, A.M. (2012). Tracing family lines: The impact of women’s genealogy research on family communication. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
This book explores the connection between women and genealogy by examining the ways inherited familial narratives and data work to position women within American culture. Although studies of women’s lives are on the rise, the standpoint(s) of women has historically been marginalized, particularly as women continue to be relegated to domestic and family care. Through researching these standpoints, we are better able to see the political constructions of sexist oppression, as well as the ways genealogy offers a possible site for resistance. Interviewing women who are engaged in the act of researching their own family genealogy provides insight into their motivation for doing so. In documenting the family communication that surrounds the genealogical data, as well as studying the family organizational structure, this study contributes to the existing research regarding family history and family narrative. As many of these women are members of local genealogical societies, they are also able to address aspects of community membership, and the positioning of women within these organizations. Tracing Family Lines illuminates the experiences of women genealogists, to understand the impact of genealogical data upon family communication, and to explore family genealogy as a site of feminist resistance to the socio-political marginalization of women. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739166239/Tracing-Family-Lines-The-Impact-of-Genealogy-Research-on-Family-Communication
Recent Articles & Book Chapters:
Smith, A.M. (2023). Genealogy, marriage, and divorce. In J. Hartenstein (Ed.) Marriage and divorce in America: Issues, trends, and controversies. Santa Barbara, CA. ABC-CLIO.
Smith, A.M. (2019). Treasure or trouble: The impact of inherited artifacts on family communication. In S. Symond (Ed) Casing the family: Theoretical and applied approaches to understanding family communication. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/casing-family-theoretical-and-applied-approaches-understanding-family-communication
Smith, A.M. (2017). Family genealogy and family communication: Finding common ground. Genealogy, 1(6). http://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/1/1/6/pdf