.Appalachian Studies Conference.

This weekend Scott and I traveled to Richmond, Kentucky for the 34th Annual Appalachian Studies Association Conference at Eastern Kentucky University!  I have to say my favorite part was being around "folks" from the mountains, hearing the familiar accent, and meeting people from our neck of the woods in Southwest Virginia.  Some of the sessions I attended were:

• Appalachian Women's Work - Perceptions of Breastfeeding Among First-Time Mothers in Appalachia; Eastern Kentucky Women Artists Working for Social Change; Appalachian Women Take It on the Road.
• Service Learning: Action, Reflection, and Renewal in the Academy through Student Engagement in the Community - Shepherd University, West Virginia (this one was extremely helpful in what I'm currently interested in with high-risk college students)
• Readings by Southern Appalachian Writers' Cooperative 
• Sexing Up Statistics With Song and Story (Serendipitously I got to help out with this one since it was being presented by my theater director from my undergrad and he was talking about a play I performed with him)
• Appalachian, Ethnicity, and Gender: An Exploratory Look at Higher Education Learning

In addition to the sessions we attended there were booths set up in the library with piles of Appalachian Studies books and materials.  We brought home a stack of newspapers and information about activism in the area.  They also had a silent auction of eclectic items from handmade jewelry to cds and tickets to bluegrass shows.  I bid several times on a t-shirt that said "Treehugger," but didn't end up winning it - I was hoping I could get it to wear home in front of my dad and brother who have already given my that distinguished title!

One particular item Scott and I are both quite excited about is a poster we bought from the Beehive Design Collective, a "swarm" of artists and activists working to translate the stories of environmental destruction from "word-to-image." We plan to get it framed and hang it over our couch. Here are some examples of their art and you can see more at their website!