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Roads to Appalachia through Eastern Europe Students Arnold Triplett and Jane Gilchrist have developed a website that will be updated during the trip as time and internet access permit. Visit regularly to find out where the group is visiting. Trip Resources
Itinerary & Trip Application
Book List by Presentation These books are on reserved at the FSU Library and may be checked out for a short period.
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The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University is proud to make availabe this exciting excursion in which we will travel through Romania (including Transylvania), Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland. Among the heavy wave of settlers into Central Appalachia during the early 20th Century's Industrial Revolution, many immigrants came from these Eastern European countries. Settling in coal camps and other industrial places, these Eastern Europeans brought with them varied traditions, customs, storytelling, and other folkloric elements that are still perpetuated in parts of Central Appalachia. Unfortunately, until 1989, Eastern Europe was a foreboding place, plagued with the remnants of war and communism. Now Eastern Europe is open and welcoming. The time is right, therefore, for this culturally diverse area to be studied and celebrated. Green Hills of Magic: West Virginia Folktales from Europe, collected by Dr. Ruth Ann Musick, is an important guide to various sites and content that will comprise this particular study abroad program. Our hosts for this special adventure will be Dr. Judy Prozzillo Byers, Director, and Noel W. Tenney, Cultural Specialist, both of the Folklife Center. They will travel with us and help us connect to the similarities between folklife in our Appalachia and the unique countries we will be visiting. The myths and legends will fascinate and entertain us along the way. We will visit castles, folklife museums, famous cities, historical villages, cathedrals, and ancient sites while learning about and researching this truly fascinating region of Europe. |
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| Roads to Appalachia through England and Wales June 19-30, 2008 |
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An important part of the folklore-folklife academic offerings has been a series of study abroad programs to the homelands of emigrants to Appalachia, such as travels to Scotland , Ireland , and Italy . This June 2008 study will focus on the influences into North Central Appalachia from parts of England and Wales . Beginning and ending in London , the great city which controlled the flow of the colonists to so many areas of the world, the study will continue through the English south and west country from which many sailed, particularly the shipping center of Bristol . The oral traditions of King Arthur and the literary storytelling of William Shakespeare and Dylan Thomas will also be traced in both England and Wales . A major emphasis of the study will explore the rich cultural heritage of the Welsh, ranging from the old world coal industry, which developed many of the mining techniques used in our Appalachian mines, to the villages and countryside from which flowed the people that established communities bearing such Welsh names as Davis, Morgantown, and Shrewberry, West Virginia. |
| Roads to Appalachia through Italy June 11 - June 25, 2007 |
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The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University, in collaboration with FSU Student Affairs, Pierpont Community & Technical College and GEAR-UP, is proud to make available this exciting excursion to Italy. Our journey will be hosted by the WV Folkife Center's Director, Dr. Judy Prozzillo Byers, and the Center's Cultural Specialist, Mr. Noel W. Tenney. They will help us understand the unique similarities between Appalachia and Italia, especially "Mezzo Giorno" (Southern Italy). While in Italy, we will travel to various regions, explore famous cities and visit small villages, see magnificent architecture and fabulous works of art, enjoy wonderful food, attend an Italian festival, meet folk artisans and experience history at every turn. This travel abroad was designed as part of a year-long intensive study of Italian traditions and Appalachian influences, especially for participants to experience every aspect of Italian culture, combining education with the enjoyment of discovery along the way.... To see the Italy Website go to: www.Roads2Appalachia.com
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| Roads to Appalachia Through Scotland and Ireland July 5 - July 21, 2005 |
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The excitement of fifteen days of learning about the "Roads to Appalachia" by traveling those roads themselves was without equal in a true understanding of the historical context of the Appalachian culture base. The experience began in Scotland and explored historical, folkloric, and societal elements of both Lowland and Highland Scottish culture. Travels to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Loch Ness, and the Isle of Skye explored these issues through visits to castles and museums, such as the Angus Folk Museum, the Highland Folk Museum, Culloden Visitor Center, and the Museum of the Isles/Clan Donald Center (the largest of centers for studying Scottish family history). Included in these days was also traditional celebrations of Scottish life and foods with a Scottish Evening including the "Ceremony of the Haggis," and the historic "get together" of the "caelie." The route of the Scotch-Irish (Lowland Scots) as they move across to Northern Ireland was studied. The move to Ireland began in Northern Ireland and Belfast/Omagh where a visit to the Ulster American Folk Park fully explored the role of the Scotch-Irish in both British Isle and early American and Appalachian history. Of course, famous geological and historical sites were included. The move to the Republic of Ireland was our only encounter with the newly instituted monetary notion of the Euro. Most importantly the group had the opportunity to explore the area, historics, and tragedies that were created with the potato famine of the mid 1840's. A visit to County Roscommon and the Strokestown House/1840's Famine Museum not only reviewed that dark time in Irish history but established the base of understanding for the large immigration from that area to the United States and especially to central West Virginia state that the individuals were born in County Roscommon, Cork, Galway, or even Strokestown itself. What a wonderful way of understanding the arrival of the Irish Catholics in our area. Many other stops in Ireland and ending in Dublin illustrated the Appalachian background whether it be song, dance, legend, folklore, or geology. |
