Summary:

The Foxfire Series began as a literary celebration of the people and culture of the Southern Appalachians. Inaugurated in the early 1970’s, Foxfire began as a class project assigned by an English teacher in rural Appalachia. Ninth and tenth graders were given tape recorders and sent out to interview “elders,” so as to increase the youngster’s knowledge and appreciation of mountain heritage. The audio collections were then transcribed and offered to the public in the form of quarterly newsletters that were so popular, that they retain a local best- seller status to this day.
Foxfire Revisited is designed to echo the Foxfire concept in modern day West Central Minnesota with the following alterations:
• Technology. Video cameras, as opposed to audio recorders;
• Interviewers. Members of Diversity & Inclusion student groups: “S.E.E.D.”
(7th & 8th graders) and the “Intercultural Club” (1st & 2nd year college students) will
Work in select duos, one older and one younger student;
• Interviewees. Persons residing and/or vacationing in West Central Minnesota. Emphasis placed on reaching a respondent pool with a wide variety of faiths, cultures, philosophies, ethnicities, incomes, et al.
• Queries. Survey questions will focus on the (a) feelings and (b) thoughts respondents hold in regard to (c) life experiences;
• Results. Videos will be strategically edited to engage involved communities
and presented in the form of “Community Conversations.”

Foxfire Revisited will create bonds between persons of diverse cultures and faiths by offering new perspectives on related issues in an engaging fashion.