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CSEGA and Marshall University will host a first-of-its-kind
web- based conference to explore, investigate, and reflect upon diversity
in Appalachia focusing on ethnicity and gender.
Click
here to log into the conference.
Click
here for more information
Click here
for registration
Click here
for Affrilachian
Poetry Reading
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CSEGA
& Appalachian Studies Association Receives an NEH Challenge
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What is CSEGA?
Appalachians are
often stereotyped as moonshining hillbillies who smoke corncob pipes and
continuously feud with their neighbors. In reality, Appalachians are a diverse group
of people, including African-American women who led the nation in the Civil Rights
struggle, women of Cherokee heritage who write poetry, and Italian coal miners
who helped to build one of the most important union movements in the
history of the United States. The
Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia (CSEGA) has a unique
research mission -- it is the only Appalachian Center in the country
dedicated to studying and understanding this incredible diversity.
The Rockefeller Foundation for the Humanities
recognized the importance of this research in 1996 when it awarded the Center one of its
prestigious scholars-in-residence grants. Marshall remains the only institution
of higher education in the state of West Virginia to have ever received one of these
grants. Our program at CSEGA provides fellowships for researchers who wish
to study
some aspect of gender and/or ethnicity in Appalachia. Scholars from across
the nation have traveled to Marshall to conduct research on women banjo
players, Italian coal miners, Latina textile workers, African-American Appalachian schoolteachers,
Cherokee family heritage, black women activists in the coal fields,
Appalachian sexual minorities, and women workers in
the glass
industry. In March 2000, CSEGA hosted a national conference on Marshall's
campus where Rockefeller scholars, in addition to numerous other regional
academics and community leaders,
presented work related to ethnicity and gender in Appalachia.
In 2000, CSEGA was awarded a
rare second grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to
continue the outstanding work of scholars at the Center. As a
result, research fellows will be present on campus through 2002.
All CSEGA Rockefeller Scholar-in-Residence Fellows are selected by a highly
competitive process involving two selection committees. An
interdisciplinary committee of Marshall faculty first reviews all
fellowship applications and subsequently convenes to select the most promising projects.
These finalists are then passed on to members of an external review committee
consisting of noted scholars and specialists from regional universities,
who then make the final selection of the fellowship recipients.
The existence of CSEGA on
Marshall's campus has also generated new projects. For example, the Art
Department at Marshall University, under the guidance of Dr.
Mary Grassell, created an exhibit entitled "Pointing the Way," which
graphically illustrated the many ways in which different ethnic groups
have contributed to Appalachian culture. In addition to sponsorship from
CSEGA, the West Virginia Humanities
Council supported this project. The Center has established other opportunities
for scholars who wish to study ethnicity and gender in Appalachia, but are
not eligible for resident fellowships. Currently, CSEGA boasts scholar
affiliates, student affiliates, and we hope to soon include community scholar affiliates. These
researchers have helped the Center, and Marshall University, to reach out to the
Appalachian region through their publications, presentations at regional
conferences, and their community activities. Topics
studied by the Center's affiliates have included race relations in
Appalachia, Appalachian Japanese war brides, women in West Virginia
broadcasting, the role of women in coal town labor conflicts, gay Appalachians,
and the roots of Appalachian blues music.
The Co-Directors of the Center, Dr. Lynda Ann Ewen
(Professor of Sociology) and Dr. Shirley Lumpkin (Professor of English)
are both scholars active in Appalachian studies. Dr. Ewen's most recent
publication was the lead article in the Appalachian Journal (Winter 1999),
and she is also the editor of an exciting new series with Ohio University
Press, "Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia." Dr. Lumpkin was the
recipient of the Drinko Academy Award in 1998 and created a multi-media
work entitled "Re-Membering, Re-Weaving, Re-Visioning Other
Ways," which has been presented and published
by the Drinko Academy. Ms. Connie Leinen, our new administrative assistant, is
currently pursuing her degree in anthropology from Marshall.
An active and enthusiastic Board
of Directors contributes to the ongoing development of the Center's
activities. The Rockefeller grant has also supported a number of
graduate assistantships. These outstanding graduate students have been actively
involved in helping scholars with field research, transcribing interviews,
developing publicity for the Center, and writing grants.
Persons interested in obtaining further information about the Center
and its
programs are encouraged to explore this website, email CSEGA, and/or call the Center's office at
(304) 696-3348.
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Spring
2002 Scholar Dr. Carol A. Mason
Fall 2002 Scholar
Dr.
Rachel A. Jennings
Appalachian Studies Conference
Click
here
for more information
The Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia Book Series
Ohio University Press
Rockefeller Foundation
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