After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities

After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities Proposal for ASA Conference March 28-30, 2014 Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia. How do communities survive economic change? Can culture preserve communities? How can we share lessons across borders? After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities is a documentary and community engagement project that asks these vital questions. Although most Welsh coal mines were shut down in the 1980’s, the social, economic and environmental challenges to Wales and Appalachia in recent decades are at times tragically similar: joblessness, chronic health issues, environmental blights and the sociological impact of redefining a community identity. This panel addresses key humanities issues such as resilience in a post-coal economy, post-industrialization and its aftermath, and the ability of a community to reinvent itself through cultural expression. Short video clips from the After Coal documentary-in-progress serve as conversation starters to spark discussions among conference participants about economic transition in central Appalachia