WVU Libraries

West Virginia University Libraries will host a virtual conversation with Nicholas Stump, author of “Remaking Appalachia,” on May 20 at noon.

Stump, a faculty member and head of reference and access services with the George R. Farmer Jr. Law Library at WVU College of Law, researches environmental law, critical legal theory, law and social movements, and Appalachian and rural studies.

In “Remaking Appalachia,” his new book from WVU Press, Stump looks back more than a century to examine the creation of laws governing the rising power of coal and other industries, and chronicles their failure to protect Appalachia. In addition, Stump goes beyond law “reform” to explore true system change, a discussion undergirded by ecofeminism and ecosocialism.

“Remaking Appalachia offers a thorough critical account of Appalachia through a law and political economy lens, and makes a persuasive case for what the region needs today: a hopeful vision for a new future rooted in transformative, bottom-up change,” Ann M. Eisenberg, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, wrote in a review.

This Zoom event is co-sponsored by the WVU Humanities Center, the Appalachian Justice Initiative at the WVU College of Law, and the Research Crits Caucus of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Register here.

Humanities Librarian Lynne Stahl will introduce Stump and moderate the program.

American University College of Law Assistant Professor Priya Baskaran will interview Stump and will pose questions on the book’s proposals for social change and on how Appalachian lawyers might support such change moving forward. Baskaran is a former colleague of Stump. While at WVU, she performed community lawyering work in Central Appalachia and they co-taught a class on the intersection of law and Appalachian community economic development.

Sign language interpreting and captioning services are available by request for participants who are deaf or hard of hearing. To request an Interpreter or Captioner please contact Jason.Kapcala@mail.wvu.edu at least three business days prior to this event.