Water has shaped and influenced the natural and cultural landscapes of Appalachia, especially as powerful sites of historical significance, cultural and collective memory, place-based identity, and everyday community life.
This presentation aims to share insights and links created through the synergistic exchange of experiences and interests around water in Appalachia. The Appalachian Water Humanities Collaborative (AWHC) is an interdisciplinary group of scholars, faculty, and students at the University of Kentucky that began in 2025 to explore the role and relationships to water in Appalachian humanities research and scholarship. Bringing together scholars from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines, spanning environmental studies, anthropology, history, sociology, and other – to participate in deep conversations about how water influences communities and individuals across social, cultural, economic, and political dynamics. Holding and creating space for all scholars to engage in discussions, shared readings, and members discover commonalities, connections, and ways in which water shapes historical experiences and contemporary challenges in Appalachian communities.
This presentation will share some of the preliminary themes that have surfaced from the first iteration of the Collaborative, specifically the role of building interdisciplinary ecosystems around the concept of water and waterways, the ways water/waterways anchor place-based identity and collective memory, and the ways in which people and communities relate to water. Water is often a focal point in the vernacular and in stories, folklore, and traditions from the region. Water can be thought of as friend or foe, companion or adversary, complicating how people engage with it, especially as extreme weather and disasters are becoming more frequent and severe. The AWHC succeeded in bringing together diverse scholars to foster conversations and brainstorm ideas, opportunities, and potential solutions to better understand our human and more-than-human relationships with water and the environment.
This presentation will highlight how an interdisciplinary humanities framework can enhance Appalachian studies and scholarship while continuing to foster conversations between academic research and local community knowledge.
