FYSP 171 - Environment and Expression in Appalachia

FC ARHU WINT

4 credits
Appalachia is foundational in the American cultural imagination, both lauded as a conceptual birthplace for folksy Americana and held as at arm’s length as a blighted internal Other. Perhaps even more significantly, it is a series of extraction sites, with coal mines and clear-cut forests spread all along the East Coast from Ohio to Georgia. In this course, we will examine how Appalachian people have engaged with the environment through artistic expression, including music, film, literature, material culture, and foodways. We will take a multimedia approach, combining relevant scholarly or secondary literature with critical media analysis.