We are proud to share that Severin Mueller, a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies, recently presented his paper titled "Moving Mountains, Moving Schools: Tensions between Education and Industry in the Southern Coalfields of West Virginia" at the Appalachian/Carpathian International Mountain Conference held in Romania in October this year. His research highlights the social history and political economy of Appalachia and the U.S. South in the interplay between education, labor, and industry.
The Appalachian/Carpathian International Mountain Conference, hosted by Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) and the UBB Faculty of Letters, Department of Literature and Cultural Studies, took place in Romania from October 15 to 18, 2024. This year's biennial conference welcomed twenty-four American scholars to Cluj-Napoca and Roșia Montană over four days. Additionally, several Romanian scholars and NGO representatives presented at the conference, officially titled "The Unquiet Earth: Natural Resource Extraction and Cultural Appropriation in Mountain Communities."
Severin described the conference as a valuable exercise in transnational scholarship that explored the myriad connections between two natural resource-rich geographic regions, each with rich cultural traditions that have formed alongside and often against the commodification of landscapes and labor. In this context, he said, "The discussions of the conference were inescapably shaped by the recent flooding catastrophe in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which has sent a stern reminder about the unresolved contradictions between the systematic destruction of ecologies and the struggle for the health and sustainability of community life in the mountains and beyond".
In his words, Severin explained, "My own plenary talk, titled "Moving Mountains, Moving Schools: Tensions between Education and Industry in the Southern Coalfields of West Virginia," picked up this thread to trace both the evolution of recent social protest over education into a political struggle oriented to the role of labor as an agent for social change and to explore the influence of historical experience, first and foremost with the coal mining industry, on the moral economies of Appalachian coalfield residents. The talk grew out of my current dissertation research into the legacies of the labor movement in the Central Appalachian state of West Virginia, at this moment of deep structural transformations to the American and global economy, which has led me to take a close look into the role of education in the region".
Severin Mueller expressed his sincere gratitude for the hospitality extended by the conference organizers and representatives of the host organizations and for the sense of community shared with fellow conference attendees. He also acknowledged the crucial financial support George Mason University's Graduate Division provided through its Graduate Student Travel Fund, which made his participation possible.
Congratulations, Severin, on this outstanding achievement!
November 14, 2024