Integrating Appalachian Studies into the Campus Mainstream

Abstract

Integrating Appalachian Studies into the Campus Mainstream (Breakout Session 5) Participants: President William Hayden of West Virginia Wesleyan College; Professor David Rudy of Morehead State University; Professor Rebecca Jones of the University of Charleston; Professor Maggie Glasgow of Bluefield College; Professor Paul Threadgill of Maryville College; Professor Pete Crow of Ferrum College; Professor Sandra Hayslette of Warren Wilson College. Professor Sally Maggard, West Virginia University, moderator This group noted that virtually every institution represented at this meeting was undertaking a strategic planning initiative at this time. Thus the conference was well-timed to encourage a reexamination of the colleges' and universities' relationships to the region as part of that process. These conversations about the region in our curriculum and our missions need to be embedded in and connected together with strategic planning. We also need to have some coordination or we will have the same kind of poorly coordinated systems that we presently have-some institutions with a tightly organized program in place while other colleges and universities are just in the planning stages of implementing an Appalachian-based curriculum. Session participants also noted that this intensive work on the region could also provide opportunities to see connections with the broader world. This is possible because many of the problems found in every society-environmental degradation, racism, poverty, political corruption, inadequate health care, and many others-are found in Appalachia. Many of the potential solutions to these problems, including citizen activism, experimental scientific initiatives, community networking, and innovative political thinking, are also available for study in the Appalachian context. We need to convey to our students that the successful person in the future will be the person with superior analytical skills who can address problems in Appalachia or Africa. An example of this approach to education is provided by George Ella Lyon with the Eastern Kentucky Poetry 72 Project. She pairs an Appalachian poem with a poem from the traditional curriculum. This usually provides greater understanding of both the Appalachian perspective and that of the other location. In these moments of curriculum review and change, our group felt that we need to remember that this will not proceed without controversy, debate, and resistance. But the process is already underway, and the external environment is forcing this moment of change and will require that these questions be asked and answered. These initiatives include a review of the educational institutions and their relationship to their "place." As President Hayden observed, we have to be conscious of our surroundings and responsive to the needs of the people found there. The session members also conducted a review of our understanding of how we teach and how our students learn. This raises the crucial question of how do we serve our particular student population. Participants in this session were excited by the many new teaching strategies now in use that could effectively use regional materials. It was pointed out that research has determined that students understand concepts more thoroughly if the examples used are part of their previous experience. At the same time, we have to be careful that the use of local materials is not an escape from rigorous scholarship. The same standards would apply in any case, but the material would be directly connected to the student's personal lives. An example of this would be a stewardship program for timber resources that was initiated by an institution in West Virginia. These students learned about resource management, environmental impact statements, scientific conservation, and financial analysis. This practical experience required the use of analytical tools from several disciplines. These assessments had to be chosen from several competing methods of examination and applied with great care. While the benefits to students using this approach appear to be obvious, our session participants identified several exciting opportunities for the faculty as well. First, faculty members who teach Appalachian topics are forced to abandon the narrow confines of their own disciplines in both content and methodology. Our session members viewed that as an enriching experience that would strengthen the person teaching within the discipline as well. Professor Maggard also suggested that there would be an opportunity to create teaching modules through external funding that would be available to...