Beyond the Tall, Tall Trees: Exploring Land and Digital Literacy in Rural Appalachia

In this dissertation, I report findings of a case study I conducted in Giles County, Virginia, my hometown, to better understand the way land impacts rural digital literacy sponsorship. With the help of 13 participants, I studied the ways land impacted their access to digital infrastructures and internet access and presented the following questions: how does land impeded access and support access to broadband infrastructure in Giles County? How does land impact what digital literacies residents in Giles County pursue, and how do they navigate the county's "dead zones" I begin the study by diving into the status of internet in Giles County, and I review the failed attempt made by legislators to provide "universal broadband" to the entire state of Virginia. Next, I review the literature on Deep Mapping Analysis and Literacy Networks to provide context as to how I am using land as a framework for studying rural digital literacy sponsorship. Then, the first analysis chapter uses Deep Mapping Analysis to discuss maps reflecting the status of internet access within the county, and then discusses how these maps help support the experiences of participants in the first round of interviews. The second findings chapter focuses on the Literacy Networks created by participants Veronica, Libby, Makayla, and Heather and explores how their networks show the connections between land and infrastructures as rural digital literacy sponsors and what that teaches us about rural access in general. Finally, I conclude with three implications from these analysis chapters that encourage scholars, community scholars, and legislators alike to pay more attention to the role land plays in internet access and rural digital literacy sponsorship. Most importantly, this work calls for legislators to consider what their part is in helping their rural constituents receive the internet access they need to survive without implicating those who cannot afford it or harming the land where they live.