So, I’m thinking about this proposal, for a variety of reasons — namely because I rather like Appalachia and think that it is underestimated.
So, in fleshing out a proposal that I haven’t fully decided to run with yet, I was thinking of a few areas for the prospective authors to focus on.
First we have to identity what is the Appalachian Identity? In Colin Woodard‘s book, he defines Appalachians as Scottish-Irish descendants; however, it does not take long to figure out that African Americans have contributed to the over all identity of Appalachia as well. Then, given the migratory patterns of the boom-and-bust cycle of coal, are generations, or half-generations, considered Appalachian.
The issues, after this is one is settled are:
- Diaspora
- Ecology
- Theology
- Journalism and Understanding the Wider World
- Authority – Who has it? Is it always accepted?
- The future of the identity
- Appalachian culture in popular media (books, movies, etc…)
What do you think?
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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10. Cajun Transplants and the Decline of Appalachia
will you look at that… a talking donkey.