Appalachia has a rich and complex environmental, social, and political history which impacts its present and will shape the future of the region. The Global Appalachia working group will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars whose work evaluates these pasts, presents, and futures of the region using a global and world-historical framework. In particular, the group’s focus is on bringing together scholars whose work addresses the impact extractive capitalism has had on the region’s environment, place-making, policy, and the movement of people both locally and globally. The working group also aims to explore other regions in the world that have developed in a similar trajectory as Appalachia. A comparative approach creates the opportunity to analyze similar regions that have experienced divestment as a result of exploitative industries and communities that have shown resistance to the forces of global extractive capitalism. Ultimately, a global and world-historical framework is necessary to understand the region’s political economy and ecology in order to conceptualize large problems faced by the people of the region like under performing schools, environmental degradation, and the opioid epidemic.
Global Appalachia Reading Group: Interdisciplinary Perspective on a Region in Motion
In the spring of 2024, the working group and the Global Studies Center will host a series of book discussions focusing on the region of Appalachia from a global perspective. The series theme of the series is "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Region in Motion." Participation in all three events in the series is not required but encouraged. All events will take place from 1:00-2:30. Sign up here!
January 31, 2024
Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia by Steven Stoll
In Ramp Hollow, Steven Stoll offers a fresh, provocative account of Appalachia, and why it matters. His investigation, ranging widely from history to literature, art, and economics, questions our assumptions about progress and development, and exposes the devastating legacy of dispossession and its repercussions today.
February 21, 2024
Soul Full of Coal Dust: A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia by Chris Hamby
Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hamby uncovers the tragic resurgence of black lung disease in Appalachia, its Big Coal cover-up, and the resilient mining communities who refuse to back down.
March 20, 2024
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
Another Appalachia examines both the roots and the resonance of Avashia’s identity as a queer, desi, Appalachian woman, while encouraging readers to envision more complex versions of both Appalachia and the nation as a whole. Read online through Pitt ULS!
Working Group Conveners
Veronica Dristas, Global Studies Center
Nick Pitrone, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Alexandra Straub, World History Center