Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Session 11.12 Education
Presentation #1 Title
Re-imagining the War on Poverty in Southeastern Ohio: The Appalachian Project
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Our session will focus on how our ethnographic research seeking solutions to a sustainable educational and economic atmosphere in Appalachian Ohio reimagines the 1964 War on Poverty. President Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964 in Ohio University in southeastern Ohio. In August 2013, Jesse Jackson asked students in a speech at the same university to support a return to federal efforts on eliminating poverty and malnutrition in the region, citing the current all-time high of 46.2 million Americans living at or below the poverty level. The Appalachian Project, Ohio, an interdisciplinary research team of faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students at Ohio State University, positions itself in relation to this call to action. For the last three years, we have conducted ethnographic research in Appalachian Ohio counties, identifying factors affecting Appalachian Ohio students’ decisions and readiness to obtain post-secondary education, understanding Appalachian Ohio students strategies for negotiating their college experiences, producing recommendations for addressing the barriers and challenges that students face, and exploring solutions to work toward creating a sustainable educational and economic atmosphere in Appalachian Ohio. Our presentation will feature a segment of our video documentary providing an overview of the data collected thus far, an explanation of our position within the rhetoric of the War on Poverty, and how it needs to be re-imagined for the current needs of the region. We will also discuss the perspectives of individual team members, including staff, graduate, and undergraduate students on patterns in the data and research process.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Krista Bryson is a native Appalachian, co-director of The Appalachian Project, and a PhD candidate in Rhetoric, Composition and Literacy at The Ohio State University. In her dissertation, she examines the rhetorics of the Urban Appalachian Council in Cincinnati, Ohio.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Cassie Patterson is a co-director of The Appalachian Project and the Assistant Director for the Center for Folklore Studies at Ohio State University. Her dissertation investigates the ways that young people from Appalachian Ohio relate to home.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Dr. Patricia Cunningham is a co-director of The Appalachian Project and serves as the Director of the Social Change for the Office of Student Life that houses Buckeye Civic Engagement Connection. She teaches courses around poverty and leadership and co-advises Unplugging Society: A Woman of Color Think Tank, AEPi Fraternity, and two book clubs, Enigma and WE.
Re-imagining the War on Poverty in Southeastern Ohio: The Appalachian Project
Harris Hall 446
Our session will focus on how our ethnographic research seeking solutions to a sustainable educational and economic atmosphere in Appalachian Ohio reimagines the 1964 War on Poverty. President Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964 in Ohio University in southeastern Ohio. In August 2013, Jesse Jackson asked students in a speech at the same university to support a return to federal efforts on eliminating poverty and malnutrition in the region, citing the current all-time high of 46.2 million Americans living at or below the poverty level. The Appalachian Project, Ohio, an interdisciplinary research team of faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students at Ohio State University, positions itself in relation to this call to action. For the last three years, we have conducted ethnographic research in Appalachian Ohio counties, identifying factors affecting Appalachian Ohio students’ decisions and readiness to obtain post-secondary education, understanding Appalachian Ohio students strategies for negotiating their college experiences, producing recommendations for addressing the barriers and challenges that students face, and exploring solutions to work toward creating a sustainable educational and economic atmosphere in Appalachian Ohio. Our presentation will feature a segment of our video documentary providing an overview of the data collected thus far, an explanation of our position within the rhetoric of the War on Poverty, and how it needs to be re-imagined for the current needs of the region. We will also discuss the perspectives of individual team members, including staff, graduate, and undergraduate students on patterns in the data and research process.
