Students Visit Asheville Archives for Appalachian Literature Class Field Trip

Dr. Anita Rose’s English class visited the archives at the University of North Carolina in Asheville to learn about the history of tourism in the southern Appalachians, specifically, Western North Carolina.

The class, titled ‘Slow Violence: Eco-critical Readings of Appalachian Literature,’ explores the ways that literature can influence thinking and action about the environment. The class curriculum includes reading fiction that directly addresses environmental issues. In addition to being an English elective, the class is also a humanities elective for the Environmental Studies minor.

Dr. Rose said her class has read about the impact extractive industries like coal mining and logging can have on an eco-system. “The trip to Asheville fits in because tourism is a complex industry and has a far-reaching impact on local ecology and culture, and could be considered another kind of extractive industry,” she said.

Her class also welcomed author Julia Franks to discuss her book, Over the Plain Houses, which was an NPR Book of the Year and winner of the 2017 Southern Book Prize.