Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Potluck Pedagogy: Growing old-timey seeds – and community -- in new ways
Session Abstract or Summary
At the University of North Georgia’s Appalachian Studies Center, we teach undergraduates in a disrupted landscape: Our county, along with seven neighboring ones, is among the 100 fastest growing counties in the U.S. as Atlanta creeps ever northward. Such unmanaged economic development means a rapid loss of farms and gardens in the Appalachian Upland South, the very area with the highest documented levels of agrobiodiversity. We felt an urgency to save these disappearing heirloom seeds and stories by connecting our classroom to tradition bearers. We wanted to create a space where community is not only welcome but also where elders, students, and faculty are the teachers as well as the taught. We found this space in gathering around a table, sharing food, sharing seeds, sharing stories in what we’ve come to call “potluck pedagogy.” We began as three women who went in search of seeds and stories buried in a rapidly changing landscape and cultural demographic. We emerged with a potluck pedagogy, bountiful and diverse, where everyone leaves with their hunger satisfied by good food and a growing understanding of our common purpose. Potluck pedagogy works in times of scarcity, when resources are limited, and when age, economics, and institutions of power create barriers. Potluck pedagogy belongs to everyone, is created by everyone. Everybody brings, everybody shares, and everybody is fed. The foundation of community is built on common purpose. We invite you to gather. (Get there early for a sample of Baby Ray’s Black Cookies.)
Presentation #1 Title
Potluck Pedagogy: Growing old-timey seeds – and community -- in new ways
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
At the University of North Georgia’s Appalachian Studies Center, we teach undergraduates in a disrupted landscape: Our county, along with seven neighboring ones, is among the 100 fastest growing counties in the U.S. as Atlanta creeps ever northward. Such unmanaged economic development means a rapid loss of farms and gardens in the Appalachian Upland South, the very area with the highest documented levels of agrobiodiversity. We felt an urgency to save these disappearing heirloom seeds and stories by connecting our classroom to tradition bearers. We wanted to create a space where community is not only welcome but also where elders, students, and faculty are the teachers as well as the taught. We found this space in gathering around a table, sharing food, sharing seeds, sharing stories in what we’ve come to call “potluck pedagogy.” We began as three women who went in search of seeds and stories buried in a rapidly changing landscape and cultural demographic. We emerged with a potluck pedagogy, bountiful and diverse, where everyone leaves with their hunger satisfied by good food and a growing understanding of our common purpose. Potluck pedagogy works in times of scarcity, when resources are limited, and when age, economics, and institutions of power create barriers. Potluck pedagogy belongs to everyone, is created by everyone. Everybody brings, everybody shares, and everybody is fed. The foundation of community is built on common purpose. We invite you to gather. (Get there early for a sample of Baby Ray’s Black Cookies.)
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Rosann Kent is the director of the Appalachian Studies Center at the University of North Georgia. Her role in Saving Appalachian Gardens and Stories is to help students create performance art from oral history interviews. She lives in a cabin on Clay Creek in Dahlonega, GA and enjoys telling (mostly) true stories about her Appalachian ancestors.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Chris Dockery, professor of art education at the University of North Georgia, was born right over the Georgia state line in Hanging Dog, North Carolina. Her role in Saving Appalachian Gardens and Stories was to help students create collaborative works o visual art to connect the program deeply to the community.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Karrie Ann Fadroski, senior lecturer in biology at the University of North Georgia, founded Saving Appalachian Gardens and Stories in 2007. As she collected seeds, she started a heirloom seed demonstration garden on campus. Karrie Ann grew up in Michigan, but many of her colleagues in materials management were from Lumpkin or surrounding counties. Custodians, carpenters, electricians, and locksmiths offered their expertise, time, labor and connections. They quickly became the backbone of the project.
Potluck Pedagogy: Growing old-timey seeds – and community -- in new ways
At the University of North Georgia’s Appalachian Studies Center, we teach undergraduates in a disrupted landscape: Our county, along with seven neighboring ones, is among the 100 fastest growing counties in the U.S. as Atlanta creeps ever northward. Such unmanaged economic development means a rapid loss of farms and gardens in the Appalachian Upland South, the very area with the highest documented levels of agrobiodiversity. We felt an urgency to save these disappearing heirloom seeds and stories by connecting our classroom to tradition bearers. We wanted to create a space where community is not only welcome but also where elders, students, and faculty are the teachers as well as the taught. We found this space in gathering around a table, sharing food, sharing seeds, sharing stories in what we’ve come to call “potluck pedagogy.” We began as three women who went in search of seeds and stories buried in a rapidly changing landscape and cultural demographic. We emerged with a potluck pedagogy, bountiful and diverse, where everyone leaves with their hunger satisfied by good food and a growing understanding of our common purpose. Potluck pedagogy works in times of scarcity, when resources are limited, and when age, economics, and institutions of power create barriers. Potluck pedagogy belongs to everyone, is created by everyone. Everybody brings, everybody shares, and everybody is fed. The foundation of community is built on common purpose. We invite you to gather. (Get there early for a sample of Baby Ray’s Black Cookies.)
