The end of Appalachian studies
West Virginia University closes its program
With all the bad news out of West Virginia University, the closure of Appalachian studies seems mostly to have been overlooked. It means there’s now no academic program dedicated to the study of Appalachia at the flagship university in West Virginia, the only state entirely within Appalachia.
Beyond the closure of the program, which awarded a minor in Appalachian studies, individual faculty studying and teaching about the region have also left in overwhelming numbers. Appalachian specialists in fields across WVU have departed or announced departures since the start of the university’s bruising “transformation” last spring. It’s a process celebrated by administration as a positive step toward aligning WVU with its land-grant mission, but one that has gutted the institution’s relationship to, well, the land where it’s situated.
I was fortunate in my previous job to work on books with at least four of the Appalachian studies practitioners who’ve left or are leaving WVU. That made sense, since part of the rationale for any university having a university press is the opportunity to amplify the home institution’s strengths—to propel outward a reputation for excellence by publishing books that align with the things the university cares about.
What WVU cares about now is unclear. And the closure of Appalachian studies feels of a piece with the departure of so many publishing staff at a university press specializing in, among other things, Appalachian studies. Any university is its people, and across WVU people have heard very loudly that the institution’s values are badly off-track.
That is sad news.
I would say unbelievable if I had not seen this happen time and time again in my lifetime of letters witnessing many dumbstruck decisions of university leadership imposters whose vision resembles a shred of cellophane.
It might not be much solace, but at the bottom line you can be proud that you brought to the reading world The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. It may be rumor( one of the very favorite activities of a large and underrated section of the American populace, but I hear it is still the number one best seller in churches across the nation, in all denominations too, with the Baptists and Methodists leading the way (Did you know that Hamlet was a Methodist?)
By the way, did you ever do any work with the writer Meredith Willis?
AND, are you familiar with one of the great American novels that came out of West Viirginia - Tom Kromer's scintillating Waiting For Nothing? I've read it eight times. It's one of the indispensable books that leaves me breathless.