Appalachian Studies Association Conference 2025: Full Schedule

48th Annual Appalachian Studies Conference | Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, Tennessee | March 20 - 22, 2025.

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8:00am CDT

Environmental Sciences

Saturday March 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 117
Convener: Alexander Miele, LSU

"Geographic Variations in U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline Incidents: Misalignment Between Administrative Boundaries and the Appalachian Region," Jacob Hileman, West Virginia University
"Linking Streamflow Trends with Land Cover in a Southern USA Water Tower," Alexander Miele, LSU
"Sustainable Methodologies for Degradation of PET-based Microplastics along the Tennessee River," Kyle Murphy, Tennessee Tech University

Saturday March 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

8:00am CDT

Faith Histories

Saturday March 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 307
Convener: Summer King, University of Mississippi

"The Potential of Religion in Appalachian Sustainability Transitions: The Case of Bethlehem Farm," Julius Malin, University of Basel
"Hearing from Our Own Home: Reading the Pastoral Letters of Catholic Committee of Appalachia as a Model for Synodality," Abigail Rosys, Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
"He Shall Take Up Serpents: The Spread of Pentecostal Snake Handling through Southern Appalachia, 1909-1932," Summer King, University of Mississippi

Saturday March 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

8:00am CDT

Future Places

Saturday March 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 111
Convener: Marti Wagnon, Virginia Tech

"'This Place Knows How to Dream': King Coal as Thirdspace Vision of Appalachia's Future," William Nash, Middlebury College
"Between Heaven & the High Country: Constructing Religious Space in the Southern Appalachian Landscape," Ella Adams, Appalachian State University
"Beyond the Tall, Tall Trees: Reimagining Technology, Digital Literacy, and the Physical Landscape of Rural Appalachia," Marti Wagnon, Virginia Tech

Saturday March 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

9:30am CDT

College Transitions

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 117
Convener: Africa Hands, University at Buffalo

"‘My Grandmother Recommended I Apply’: College Information Seeking among Appalachian Students," Africa Hands, University at Buffalo
"Rank Strangers: Using Liminality to Conceptualize College Transition for Rural Appalachian Students," David Adams, University of Cincinnati
"The Influences That Facilitate the Development of a Sense of Calling among Undergraduate Women Raised and Educated in Appalachia," Lindsay Monihen, Shawnee State University

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

9:30am CDT

High Water is Hell, Brothers and Sisters!

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 327
Convener and Presenter: Jared Hamilton, M.A.R.S. Collective

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT
Bartoo Hall

Performance

9:30am CDT

Writing the New Appalachia: A Reading and Discussion with Appalachian Memoirist Jennifer McGaha

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 111
Convener and Presenter: Jennifer McGaha, Independent

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT
Bartoo Hall

Performance

9:30am CDT

Never Been out of the County: Short-Term Study Abroad Programs for Appalachian Students at Two-Year Colleges

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 307
Convener and Presenter: Jeff Wallace, Southern State Community College

Saturday March 22, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am CDT
Bartoo Hall

Workshop

11:00am CDT

Health Outcomes

Saturday March 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 117
Convener: Michelle Roberts, University of Kentucky

"Insuring Health, Ensuring Limits: A Praxiographic Approach to Health Insurance and Care Delivery for People with Disabilities in Appalachian Kentucky," Michelle Roberts, University of Kentucky
"Diabetes Fatalism in Appalachia: A Concept Analysis," Karen Carver, East Tennessee State University
"‘It’s Generational Trauma’: The Importance of Historically Contextualizing Drug-Related Suffering Amongst Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Appalachian North Georgia," Anna Mullany, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health

Saturday March 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

11:00am CDT

Perspectives on Appalachia with the University Press of Kentucky

Saturday March 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 327
Convener: Laura Leigh Morris, Furman University
Reading and Discussions with:

Laura Leigh Morris, Furman University
Chris Aluka Berry, Aluka Stories
Kelly Elaine Navies, Independent
Karen Salyer McElmurray, Spalding University
Rae Garringer, Country Queers

Saturday March 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

11:00am CDT

A Reading from Appalachian Lit Authors

Saturday March 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 111
Convener: Damian Dressick, Appalachian Lit

"Wesley Scott McMasters Reads His Work," Wesley Scott McMasters, Carson-Newman University
"Laura Jackson Reads Her Work," Laura Jackson, Autumn House Press
"Willie Carver Reads His Work," Willie Carver, Independent
"Patrick McGinty Reads His Work," Patrick McGinty, Slippery Rock University

Saturday March 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm CDT
Bartoo Hall

Performance

2:30pm CDT

Literature: Genre and Style

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 2:45pm CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 117
Convener: Moriah Silvers, University of Georgia

"New Critical Edition of Appalachian Novel This Day and Time by Anne W. Armstrong," Linda Behrend, Independent
"A Genre Reimagined: An Exploration of Rhetorical Style in Contemporary Appalachian Literature," Moriah Silvers, University of Georgia
"A Hotel Perched on a Hill: The Grove Park Inn in Recent Appalachian Fiction," Jimmy Dean Smith, Union Commonwealth University

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

2:30pm CDT

Mining Perspectives

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 3:45pm CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 307
Convener: Barry Whittemore, University of North Georgia

"An Historical Perspective on Mining in the Southern Appalachians and its Effects," Barry Whittemore, University of North Georgia
"Health and Extractivism in Central Appalachia," Meghan Albritton, Virginia Tech
"Stories from the Mines: Historical Memories of Westmoreland Coal," Adam Dean, Lincoln Memorial University; Stephanie Holyfield, Lincoln Memorial University
"The Social Lives of Energy Regimes," Nadia Smiecinska, UC Davis

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 3:45pm CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

2:30pm CDT

Writers of Appalachia

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 3:45pm CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 327
Convener: Sylvia Shurbutt, Shepherd University, Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities

"Changing Landscapes, Changing Scholarly Approaches: The Work of Robert Gipe," Peter Thompson, University of New Brunswick; Timothy Di Leo Browne, Carleton University
"Historical Remembrance & Appalachian Identity in Ron Rash's The World Made Straight," Grace Buckner, Appalachian State University
"Fluidity and Found Family in Carter Sickels’ The Prettiest Star," Atticus Mason, University of North Carolina at Asheville
"Poetry All Around Us: The Work of West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman," Sylvia Shurbutt, Shepherd University, Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 3:45pm CDT
Bartoo Hall

Panel

2:30pm CDT

Regional Appalachian Perspectives on Narrative Fictional Film Strategies

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 3:45pm CDT

Bartoo Hall

BART 111
Convener and Presenters: Chet Pancake, Temple University

Saturday March 22, 2025 2:30pm - 3:45pm CDT
Bartoo Hall

Workshop