Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 7.05 Education
Presentation #1 Title
Where, How, and Why is “Appalachia” Figuring In to Rhetoric and Composition Studies?
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Rhetoric and composition studies, originally a sub-discipline of English, has seen an increase in the number of critical studies of Appalachia over the past decade. Scholars with interests in literacy, pedagogy, writing theory, critical theory, archival work, activist and even digital rhetoric, have begun investigating the ways in which language, and its rhetorical value, casts the Appalachian culture and determines the population’s political, economic, and academic currency. Appalachia’s emergence in the conference programs and respected journals of the rhetoric and composition field mirrors, in some ways, the discipline’s historically consistent interest in other marginalized cultural groups, including Native Americans, African Americans, and Latinos/Latinas. With Appalachian culture beginning to play an important role in the shaping of what has become a significantly influential discipline, it is a good time to consider the following questions: How has Appalachia been situated in rhetoric and composition studies? In what directions are these scholarly endeavors moving, and how might we work to ensure those directions are both mindful and non-exploitive? Is such an effort even possible? In the process of indexing, I forecast where and how these conversations might intervene in specific academic and public forums, as well as in the lived experiences of Appalachians themselves.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dr. Mary Beth Pennington is a lecturer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA where she teaches courses in composition, advanced composition, rhetorical studies, and literature.
Where, How, and Why is “Appalachia” Figuring In to Rhetoric and Composition Studies?
Corbly Hall 333
Rhetoric and composition studies, originally a sub-discipline of English, has seen an increase in the number of critical studies of Appalachia over the past decade. Scholars with interests in literacy, pedagogy, writing theory, critical theory, archival work, activist and even digital rhetoric, have begun investigating the ways in which language, and its rhetorical value, casts the Appalachian culture and determines the population’s political, economic, and academic currency. Appalachia’s emergence in the conference programs and respected journals of the rhetoric and composition field mirrors, in some ways, the discipline’s historically consistent interest in other marginalized cultural groups, including Native Americans, African Americans, and Latinos/Latinas. With Appalachian culture beginning to play an important role in the shaping of what has become a significantly influential discipline, it is a good time to consider the following questions: How has Appalachia been situated in rhetoric and composition studies? In what directions are these scholarly endeavors moving, and how might we work to ensure those directions are both mindful and non-exploitive? Is such an effort even possible? In the process of indexing, I forecast where and how these conversations might intervene in specific academic and public forums, as well as in the lived experiences of Appalachians themselves.
