[Commlist] CFP: Dark Skies Appalachia

*Edited Collection */Dark Skies Appalachia/
*Proposal Deadline: *20 October 2025
*Estimated Publication Date: *2027

Call for Papers: Dark Skies Appalachia
We invite proposals for contributions to /Dark Skies Appalachia/, a 
multidisciplinary collection which will explore the influence of a dark 
night sky on identity, culture, and sense of place in the Appalachian 
region, as well as the ecological and human impacts of light pollution 
and efforts to protect dark skies in and beyond the region.
In 2023, a citizen science-based study of sky brightnesses based on over 
50,000 observations revealed that light pollution is increasing at a 
rate of 10% per year and doubling every eight years. Not only are 
polluted urban environments becoming much brighter, the extent of the 
polluted skies is reaching farther away from cities into suburban and 
rural areas, threatening the darkness and starry skies many have come to 
identify with rural places. By dimming the sparkle of distant suns and 
obscuring the faint glow of the Milky Way, artificial light is abruptly 
and fundamentally altering one of humanity’s first and most intimate 
relationships with the natural world. In the United States, rural 
Appalachia is one of the few places east of the Mississippi to retain 
dark, unpolluted skies where residents may still look up at night and 
see the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon (or mountaintop to 
mountaintop). How has a dark night and starry sky been part of 
Appalachian identity, culture, and sense of place?
Submissions are encouraged from scholars and practitioners considering 
the sky from various perspectives and disciplinary backgrounds. 
Contributions may take a range of forms, including art/photography, 
artist’s talks, songwriting, creative writing, or engagingly presented  
scholarly research from history to sociology to cultural criticism to 
the sciences (/see list of possible topics below/). Please note that 
while works with the regional connection are preferred, topical 
submissions lacking the regional focus are also welcome. /Proposals are 
requested by October 20, 2025, for completed essays/contributions due 
July 31, 2026./
We welcome proposals of up to 500 words accompanied by a brief biography 
to be submitted using this _Google Form 
<https://forms.gle/gy9hokDGJtJb6Jec8>_ by 20 October 2025. Should that 
method not work, please send via email to Jeff Bary (jbary [at] 
colgate.edu), Anna Creadick (creadick [at] hws.edu), or Elijah 
Prewitt-Davis (elijah.prewitt-davis [at] msj.edu. Decisions will be made 
by 20 November 2025. The projected deadline for completed essays 
[5,000-7,000 words] and other contributions will be 31 July 2026. 
*Queries may be directed to Jeff Bary via email.* Multiple presses have 
expressed enthusiastic interest in publishing this collection.
. . .
Possible topics:

Human Health and Environmental Considerations

  *
    Explorations of awe and neurophysiological experiences of dark night
    skies
  *
    Ecocriticism on darkness as a disappearing/unprotected resource
  *
    Scientific research on the human and non-human impacts of light
    pollution in or beyond the region (e.g., fireflies, pollinators,
    livestock, etc.)
  *
    Appalachian geology and earth-sky connections, deep time


Social, Historical, and  Cultural Issues

  *
    Historical or sociological investigations of lightness/darkness in
    the Appalachian anthropocene, for example – rural electrification,
    extractive industry, coal culture/labor, or out-migration and urban
    Appalachian sense of place
  *
    Religious and spiritual connections to the night sky
  *
    Indigenous cosmologies and dark sky temporalities


Critical Literary or Cultural  Analysis

  *
    Literary criticism on nightscapes, dark skies, and sense of place in
    works from the region
  *
    Critical analysis of music, dance, and sound that engage with dark
    skies in the region.
  *
    Analysis of film, photography, or other cultural or media
    representations that connect with the night sky


Creative Works

  *
    Visual art, photography, and astrophotography
  *
    Songwriting and composition
  *
    Creative nonfiction on the night sky’s relationship to sense of
    place in Appalachia


Dark Sky Preservation

  *
    Political or public policy papers on dark skies activism, policy, or
    preservation efforts, including organizing, lobbying, outreach
  *
    Descriptions of public-facing programming for national parks or
    other institutions, including informal/DIY dark skies activism and
    resources
  *
    Maps, materials, travelogues on dark sky parks, star gazing, star
    parties, amateur astronomy in Appalachia
  *
    Pedagogical research on teaching earth/sky connection in the region
  *
    Planetary approaches to Appalachian studies, or Appalachian
    approaches to astronomical studies



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