Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Making the Path Together: Intersections of African American Studies, Women’s Studies, and Appalachian Studies.
Session Abstract or Summary
Based on the recent publication of Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking, the following questions will guide the conversation: What do geographically-based fields such as Appalachian Studies have in common with identity-based fields such as Women’s Studies and African-American Studies? What do these fields have to teach and learn from each other? What roles do area studies fields such as these play in the academy? How do these interdisciplinary fields relate to traditional disciplines? In what ways are area studies not truly interdisciplinary? What are the contributions and limitations of area studies fields in relation to active movements for social change? To what extent are these fields relevant in an era of globalization and capital mobility? To what extent do Appalachian, African American, and Women’s studies programs challenge the tenets of higher education, or have they simply become a part of the formal academic landscape? How has postmodernism/poststructuralism affected theoretical constructs in area studies? What is the role of alternative research methods such as oral history or community-based participatory research in area studies? How best to combine creative vigor with scholarly rigor in area studies? In an era of campus corporatization is there a future for area studies, for their certificates and degrees, for their students and graduates?
Presentation #1 Title
Making the Path Together: Intersections of African American Studies, Women’s Studies, and Appalachian Studies.
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Based on the recent publication of Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking, the following questions will guide the conversation: What do geographically-based fields such as Appalachian Studies have in common with identity-based fields such as Women’s Studies and African-American Studies? What do these fields have to teach and learn from each other? What roles do area studies fields such as these play in the academy? How do these interdisciplinary fields relate to traditional disciplines? In what ways are area studies not truly interdisciplinary? What are the contributions and limitations of area studies fields in relation to active movements for social change? To what extent are these fields relevant in an era of globalization and capital mobility? To what extent do Appalachian, African American, and Women’s studies programs challenge the tenets of higher education, or have they simply become a part of the formal academic landscape? How has postmodernism/poststructuralism affected theoretical constructs in area studies? What is the role of alternative research methods such as oral history or community-based participatory research in area studies? How best to combine creative vigor with scholarly rigor in area studies? In an era of campus corporatization is there a future for area studies, for their certificates and degrees, for their students and graduates?
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Co-editor and contributor to Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2015. Senior Visiting Scholar, University of Cincinnati. Affiliate of the UK Appalachian Center.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Co-author of The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Professor of Sociology, University of Kentucky. Affiliate of the UK Appalachian Center.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Author of Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945 Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2008. Professor Emeritus of History, University of Kentucky. Affiliate of the UK Appalachian Center.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Author of From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. Associate Professor of Sociology, Indiana University. Adjunct Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #5
Author of Dear Appalachia: Readers, Identity, and Popular Fiction since 1878. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2011. Associate Professor, Department of Religion and Culture, Virginia Tech. Affiliate of the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought PhD program. Affiliate of the Women’s and Gender Studies program.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #6
Shaunna Scott: Co-editor and contributor to Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2015. Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Kentucky. Director of Appalachian Studies. Affiliate of the UK Appalachian Center.
Chad Berry: Co-editor and contributor to Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2015. Professor of History, Berea College. Affiliate of the BC Appalachian Center.
Making the Path Together: Intersections of African American Studies, Women’s Studies, and Appalachian Studies.
Based on the recent publication of Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking, the following questions will guide the conversation: What do geographically-based fields such as Appalachian Studies have in common with identity-based fields such as Women’s Studies and African-American Studies? What do these fields have to teach and learn from each other? What roles do area studies fields such as these play in the academy? How do these interdisciplinary fields relate to traditional disciplines? In what ways are area studies not truly interdisciplinary? What are the contributions and limitations of area studies fields in relation to active movements for social change? To what extent are these fields relevant in an era of globalization and capital mobility? To what extent do Appalachian, African American, and Women’s studies programs challenge the tenets of higher education, or have they simply become a part of the formal academic landscape? How has postmodernism/poststructuralism affected theoretical constructs in area studies? What is the role of alternative research methods such as oral history or community-based participatory research in area studies? How best to combine creative vigor with scholarly rigor in area studies? In an era of campus corporatization is there a future for area studies, for their certificates and degrees, for their students and graduates?
