Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
What is an Appalachian Coal Miner's Daughter?
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In 2011, I published a poem called “The Coal Miner’s Daughter Gets a Ph.D.” I examined the culture shock I experienced when my dad abandoned the mines and their constant strikes to move from West Virginia to Illinois. In 1998 when I left my career as a high school Spanish teacher to pursue a Ph.D., I encountered more feelings of inadequacy as I entered a profession where I perceived the my colleagues as coming from different backgrounds from my own. Recently I wrote a book describing these journeys. As I struggled, my husband insisted that we return to Fayetteville, West Virginia, the place that first shaped me as an activist. Following this trip, I wrote a chapter called, “Am I Really an Appalachian Coal Miner’s Daughter?” questioning what it means to be Appalachian, a term I didn’t know when my family left West Virginia. As we drove the Coal Heritage Trail and visited places I knew from my childhood that are now museums of coal mining, I questioned whether those of us who left and returned as middle-aged adults still belong. I explore the following questions: How are we insiders? Or outsiders? How do we articulate that inner core of Appalachian-ness that formed us and determines how we navigate the world?
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Gresilda A. Tilley-Lubbs is an Associate Professor of ESL and Multicultural Education at Virginia Tech. She has written two books and numerous articles that examine the role of privilege in working in vulnerable communities.
Conference Subthemes
Migration, Education, Diversity and Inclusion
What is an Appalachian Coal Miner's Daughter?
In 2011, I published a poem called “The Coal Miner’s Daughter Gets a Ph.D.” I examined the culture shock I experienced when my dad abandoned the mines and their constant strikes to move from West Virginia to Illinois. In 1998 when I left my career as a high school Spanish teacher to pursue a Ph.D., I encountered more feelings of inadequacy as I entered a profession where I perceived the my colleagues as coming from different backgrounds from my own. Recently I wrote a book describing these journeys. As I struggled, my husband insisted that we return to Fayetteville, West Virginia, the place that first shaped me as an activist. Following this trip, I wrote a chapter called, “Am I Really an Appalachian Coal Miner’s Daughter?” questioning what it means to be Appalachian, a term I didn’t know when my family left West Virginia. As we drove the Coal Heritage Trail and visited places I knew from my childhood that are now museums of coal mining, I questioned whether those of us who left and returned as middle-aged adults still belong. I explore the following questions: How are we insiders? Or outsiders? How do we articulate that inner core of Appalachian-ness that formed us and determines how we navigate the world?
