indexes the rich tradition of large-scale world building by artists in the South as a means of exploring alternative modes living among the landscape and repurposing the refuse of industry.

engages theories of post-humanism, the agency of other species, and new perspectives that invite a reappraisal of how we value nonhuman life.

explores the organic and inorganic forces that infect our landscapes and obscure our understanding of ecosystems.

seeks to address questions of spiritual and religious faith, artistic world-building, cultural enclaves, and historical narratives.

focused on speech, dialects, multilingualism, and oral traditions across the American South, a region distinguished by the amount of attention its residents receive for the ways in which they speak.

will investigate the ways physical and digital systems, cultural intersections, and interconnected webs of information provide alternative models for understanding the South’s present, history, and future.

explores fantasies of the Southern landscape as they relate to notions of leisure, recreation, and tourism.

examines water as a natural resource and cultural reference in the South, acknowledging the geological, historical, and political importance of waterways in the region.

investigates the cultural situation of artists and residents in the rural South, parsing the fluctuating boundaries between cities, exurbs, and the rural.