25th Annual Appalachian Studies Conference
Final Program

Unicoi State Park
Helen, Georgia
March 15-17, 2002

The Association's annual conference brings together scholars, teachers, community and regional activists, entrepreneurs, planners, and officials who want to learn from each other and who want to make a difference in their communities. This conference is an opportunity for networking and discussing major issues facing the region.

This year the theme is "Voices from the Margin -- Living on the Fringe" featuring papers, presentations and performances by Latino Appalachian, African-American, Cherokee, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered people and others from the outskirts or the margins of Appalachia. The 2002 conference in Unicoi will celebrate the diversity of the region through music and stories as well as scholarly research papers. There will be poster sessions, panels, films, videos, plays, art, and discussions.

The ASA conference is held annually on a rotating basis at sites in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, and has several purposes: to share work in progress, to foster cooperation between disciplines, and to stimulate new work of significance. It also provides a forum for dialogue and action by a coalition of academics, grassroots community, and activists in the region.

Suzanne Pharr, Director of Highlander Center will be the keynote speaker; her topic is "Democracy Under Construction."