Understanding 'misunderstood' Appalachia focus of today's talk in Oak Ridge
“Understanding Appalachia – The Most Misunderstood Region in the Country” will be the topic of the first in the four-part series of presentations in the 2024 “Our American Roots: An Exploration of Cultures” program that begins Thursday, Feb. 8.
The speaker will be Chad Berry, vice president for alumni, communications and philanthropy, Goode Professor of Appalachian Studies and professor of history at Berea College in Kentucky, who is widely published in the area of Appalachian studies.
His talk will start at 6 p.m. at the Consolidated Nuclear Services (CNS) New Hope Center, 602 Scarboro Road, Oak Ridge. Doors will open at 5 p.m. for a reception for him, during which light food will be served.
The American Roots series, co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, will explore in the next three months the persecution of an ethnic minority in China, the laws affecting Latino immigration and the Jewish experience in the region.
Berry said he will speak on “the ways we’ve been taught to think about the Appalachian Region and its people that don’t apply to other American regions. We should be more mindful of the subtle ways in which our attitudes toward Appalachian people have been shaped through film, literature, newspaper and magazine articles and photographs.
“I also will note that in almost every country, a region and people exist that are regarded in the same way as Americans perceive Appalachia and its people," he said.
Berry is the author of “Southern Migrants, Northern Exiles,” which examines the migration of millions of white Southerners to the Midwest during the 20th century. He edited and contributed to “The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance,” a 2008 book about the rich history and far-reaching influence of the country music radio program broadcast from Chicago.
He is co-editor of “Looking and Learning: Visual Literacy across the Disciplines,” a volume of New Directions in Teaching and Learning from Jossey-Bass, published in 2015.
He also is co-editor of “Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking,” which has been described as “an invigorating challenge to the field’s status quo.” The book was published in 2015, the same year it won the Weatherford Award for nonfiction.
Prior to joining Berea College in 2006, he taught history as a faculty member of Maryville College. In 2005 he received the East Tennessee Historical Society’s 2005 Teaching Excellence Award.
Berry earned a B.A. degree in American studies from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. degree in folk studies from Western Kentucky University and a Ph.D. in history from Indiana University.
A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Berry was the 2006-2007 president of the Appalachian Studies Association. He is a former board member of the Hindman Settlement School and the Pine Mountain Settlement School. He is a member of the boards of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and the University Press of Kentucky.
Additional support for the series is provided by Berea College, CNS and Oak Ridge Periodic Tables. The co-chairs of the series are Jim Palmer and Ruby Miller.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Understanding 'misunderstood' Appalachia Feb. 8 in Oak Ridge
