Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
Session Abstract or Summary
Perhaps not since Harry Caudill’s Night Comes to the Cumberlands has a non-fiction book on Appalachia attracted such wide spread national attention as J.D. Vance’s self-defined memoir Hillbilly Elegy. It has been reviewed across a wide swath of the national media landscape from The National Review and The Wall Street Journal to All Things Considered, Fresh Air and Slate. In book reviews and on-air interview programs, the book has been routinely described as “riveting,” “starkly honest” and “the most important book you’ll read this year.” Yet it has been just as widely condemned by many within the Appalachian Studies community as anti-intellectual, overly anecdotal, and an attempt to revitalize widely-discredited “culture of poverty” explanations for persistent inequities in the region. What about Vance and his book accounts for the explosion of national interest in Hillbilly Elegy in this historical moment of national political turmoil? Why has his presentation and argument raised such a firestorm in the region? What can we learn about both actual Appalachia and the way it is perceived from these reactions and debates?
This roundtable panel made up of scholars at varying stages in their careers and from diverse locales and disciplinary backgrounds will explore these questions from a range of perspectives and approaches. The panelists also want to prioritize active audience participation and robust discussion. Audience members are encouraged to read the book in advance of the panel.
Panelists:
Dr. Tony Harkins, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green KY
Dr. Dwight Billings, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY
Dr. Theresa Burriss, Radford University, Radford VA
Dr. William Turner, Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View TX
Dr. Bob Hutton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Ivy Brashear, Appalachian Transition and Communications Associate, MACED, Berea, KY
Presentation #1 Title
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
see above
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dr. Tony Harkins, Associate Professor of History, Popular Culture Studies program Director, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY.
Author of Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon (2004) and co-editor of the Media Section of the Encyclopedia of Appalachia (2006).
Presentation #2 Title
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
see above
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Dr. Dwight Billings, Professor of Sociology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY Co-Author of The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia (2000) and co-editor of Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes (2000). Dr. Billings is a former President of the Appalachian Studies Association.
Presentation #3 Title
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
see above
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Dr. Theresa Burriss, Assistant Professor of English and Director of Appalachian Studies, Radford University, Radford VA
Dr. Burriss has published chapters on Affrilachian writers in An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature (2005) and Appalachia in the Classroom: Teaching the Region (2013).
Presentation #4 Title
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
see above
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Dr. William Turner, Research Scientist Leader, Cooperative Agricultural Research Center, Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View TX
Dr. Turner is the author of "Affrilachia as Brand" (Appalachian Heritage, 2011), "People of Color in the Green Future of Central Appalachia" (2010), and Co-Editor of Blacks in Appalachia (1985).
Presentation #5 Title
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
Presentation #5 Abstract or Summary
see above
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #5
Dr. Bob Hutton, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Dr. Hutton is the author of Bloody Breathitt: Politics and Violence in the Appalachian South (2015).
Presentation #6 Title
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
Presentation #6 Abstract or Summary
see above
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #6
Ivy Brashear, Appalachian Transition and Communications Associate, Mountain Association or Community Economic Development, Berea, KY
Ivy Brashear has a M.A. in Community and Leadership Development from the University of Kentucky and has been the chief blogger at The Rural Blog and a reporter at The Hazard Herald and the Times-Tribune in Corbin, Ky.
Roundtable Discussion Panel on J.D. Vance’s "Hillbilly Elegy"
see above
