The Speculative Appalachian Futures mini-conference asks how we can visualize, imagine, create and enact Appalachian futures that speak to the diverse and innovative cultures of the region and bring them to the forefront of discussions of what it means to be Appalachian. The deadline for proposals for papers for the Speculative Appalachian Futures mini-conference, April 2-3, 2020 in Morgantown, is Nov. 30 at midnight.
How might deeper engagement with Frank X. Walker’s “Affrilachia” model the possibility for “Indigilachia,” “Mexilachia,” or “Islamolachia”? Can @QueerAppalachia’s praxis of direct and mutual aid for rural LGBTQ+ communities open spaces for local communities who have been marginalized by organizations and government agencies? What role will the traditional practices of European settler-colonists and their descendants play in the future of the Appalachian region?
In a collaboration between the WVU Humanities Center and the WVU Libraries, this mini-conference takes a multi-disciplinary and activist approach that centers humanistic inquiry and the creative works of communities. It will provide a venue for people to collaboratively speculate about rewriting and transcending limiting definitions of what it means to be Appalachian and how to create space for individual and collective agency toward opportunity.
Presentations might address:
How can visual, literary, verbal, musical, and digital storytelling practices help us exchange ideas and make sense of the past and present while ushering in the future?
How can our relationships to Appalachian agriculture, through foodways, their histories, access and equity to food, collecting cookbooks and heirloom seeds and integrating farm to fashion connect us to a diversity of rich cultures and point to new ways of being?
How might recognizing our past relationships to the environment and reimagining our future relationships offer new ways of thinking about ourselves or offer expanded opportunities?
Proposals are open to researchers and creative practitioners approaching the above from a humanistic or creative perspective and are now being accepted for individual or group presentations.
Our commitment to participation by under-represented groups and to social justice and equity means that the Speculative Appalachian Futures conference will not charge a registration fee.
Read more about the Speculative Appalachian Futures mini-conference.