On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, the Appalachian Center hosted its inaugural Dinner on the Grounds lunchtime event, which included a presentation prepared and presented by Center staff titled “From the Appalachians to the Carpathians: Exploring Global Mountain Cultures.”

Guests were welcomed with a meal of Ukrainian borscht and homemade bread while a slide show displayed a cycle of photos captured during recent travel abroad.  Some of the scenes displayed Ukrainian log homes, a collection of hammered dulcimers and fiddles, panoramic shots of rural landscapes reminiscent of those found in east Tennessee, textiles that looked as though they could have been woven in eastern Kentucky in the early twentieth century, and evidence of similar traditional foodways.

Following the meal, Appalachian Center Director, Dr. Chad Berry, along with Appalachian Center staff members Christopher Miller, Deborah Thompson, and Rodney Wolfenbarger shared what they had learned from their recent travel abroad and discussed global mountain cultures by comparing the Carpathian Mountains in the Ukraine and Poland with the Appalachian Mountains. 

Dr. Berry discussed the historical view of Appalachia as a place different from anywhere else, a defining characteristic of the region and the people who live here.  “Because such perceptions were sometimes far off the mark, Appalachia today is sometimes the most misunderstood region in the United States, still perceived as a place quite different from where mainstream Americans live,” Berry said.

Scholars have sometimes bought into this notion, concentrating on Appalachian distinctiveness and uniqueness.  Recently, scholars have suggested it’s time to think about the ways that Appalachia is like other places—not different from places in this country or even around the world.  Such was the focus of the group’s presentation.

The event built off of the exchanges that have taken place between the Appalachian Center and the two delegations of Ukrainian academics from the Precarpathian National University the Center has hosted within the past two years, as well as the presenters’ own travels abroad.  In May 2007, Deborah Thompson went to Poland and Ukraine on a Rotary trip, which focused on mining and mineral extraction, and this past October, Chad Berry, Christopher Miller, and Rodney Wolfenbarger traveled to Ukraine to attend an international conference on globalization and education.

Deborah Thompson, Appalachian Center Director of Programming, set the geographical context of the Carpathian Mountains, which run through Ukraine, Poland, and several other countries. Ukraine is about the size of Texas, with the average per capita income less than half that of the USA ($6,800). Poland is about the size of New Mexico, joined the European Union in 2004, and has a yearly per capita income of about $12,000. While Ukraine’s coal mines are located far east of the Carpathians and are among the most dangerous in the world, southern Poland’s mines, in the Carpathian sub-region called Upper Silesia, are some of the most productive and are relatively safe. Her photos showed shaft mining in Katowice, Poland, with many of the mines located right in the middle of urban areas. Natural gas production is spread throughout southern Poland and southwestern Ukraine. Her group also visited many music schools, and dance groups similar to Berea’s own Country Dancers, who promoted the traditional music and dances of their home regions.

Rodney Wolfenbarger talked about the culture-based approach to economic development embodied by many of the mountain areas he visited in Ukraine, an approach practiced in parts of Appalachia during the past 60 years.  He observed that both the economies of Ukraine and Appalachia were constructed around their abundant natural assets and cultural wealth, emphasizing local assets such as mountains, streams, forests, and rich musical traditions.  Locals also expressed concerns similar to those of their Appalachian counterparts, he said.  In highland regions, poor roads and a lack of transportation fosters a sense of disconnection and is said to hamper economic development.  Due to low wages and high unemployment many Ukrainians have left home to find work abroad.  Mountain communities have also had to deal with the out-migration of their youth, who leave home either to further their education or to pursue a new life in the city, many of whom never return to their rural home communities.  “These were the same concerns expressed by the people we met in east Kentucky and West Virginia during this summer’s Appalachian Tour,” Wolfenbarger said. 

As part of Ukraine’s economic future, the country has begun to heavily invest in its service and tourism industries, an approach that Wolfenbarger sees parallels with Kentucky’s recent emphasis on developing eco- and adventure tourism initiatives.  Ukrainians also see potential economic development in forestry, yet they’ve recently experienced the social problems that result from irresponsible resource management.  The mass cutting of forests have caused mudslides and flooding, some of which have resulted in the loss of human life.   The resulting dilemma is an ongoing negotiation that is also taking place in Appalachia: the need to understand the relationship between tourism and land conservation to create a sustainable system that is not only good for the economy but is also respectful of the people, their health, and their culture. 

Christopher Miller, Associate Director of the Appalachian Center and College Curator for the Artifacts & Exhibits Studio, discussed Carpathian material culture, emphasizing the local Hutsul culture of the region he visited. 

Miller discussed how crafts become tools to enhance economic development, tourism, place-based education, and cultural pride.  “In both regions the material world is manifest both in artifacts and in living culture that continue to transform the lives of mountain people,” Miller said.  “I observed that, as in Appalachia, the material culture of the Ukrainian Carpathians flows out of the resources abundant to the region and the lives of the people.  Local clay, beech wood, wool, and flax (linen) play major roles in the Hutsul material world,” he added. 

Recently, scholars of Appalachian Studies have found value in comparative studies, which reveal both difference and similarity.  Such inquiry teaches about universal dynamics, such as the power of mountain environments on cultures, and they help us see details of our own region in a new light.  In learning about the mountain cultures of Poland and Ukraine, the presenters said they had deepened their own understanding of Appalachia.

“What I believe these similarities suggest is a commonality of experience in global mountain cultures,” said Dr. Berry.  “For too long, I believe we emphasized distinctiveness in Appalachian studies.  In my travels abroad, I’ve always been intrigued by the existence of ‘Appalachias’ in almost every country I visited.  These are places supposedly beyond the mainstream—with inhabitants who are allegedly different from those elsewhere.  Such a trip confirmed to me that we must begin to look as carefully for global similarities in area studies as much as differences.  The point I’m making is that one thing comparative study shows us is that we’re similar because we’re supposed to be different [from the mainstream of our own cultures].”