Perhaps no other part of the natural environment is more closely identified with the South than the invasive and fast growing kudzu vine. Yet relatively few academics have examined kudzu and its place within southern culture. Although many people consider kudzu a pest, this has not always been the case and such a view often does not capture the multiple and complex ways in which southerners have viewed and used the plant since its introduction in the late 1800s. Untangling the historical geography of kudzu involves a study of biography as well as biogeography, a focus on human agency and personal vision in addition to the natural factors that shape biological invasion. My talk will explore the biographies of three people whose identities were directly connected with kudzu: (1) Charles Pleas, who promoted kudzu as a miracle vine for feeding livestock in early 20th century Florida; (2) David Doggett, who started a 1960s underground student protest newspaper in Mississippi called "kudzu;" and (3) Diane Hoots, who currently markets baskets, jelly, and art made from the vine through her company Krazy Kudzu Products. In general terms, kudzu’s story illustrates the degree to which exotics and their cultural meanings are open to social reconstruction.

Derek H. Alderman is Associate Professor of Geography at East Carolina University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 1998. Alderman is a cultural and historical geographer specializing in the American South. His work focuses on the changing meaning and symbolic shape of the southern landscape. While much of Alderman’s published research has focused on the renaming of streets after Martin Luther King, Jr., he has a general interest in southern popular culture. For example, he has written about the geography of NASCAR, the Internet as electronic folklore, Graceland as a pilgrimage landscape, the politics of Wal-Mart, and
the cultural history of kudzu.

Alderman’s research and views have been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, BBC Radio, and NPR’s Morning Edition. Alderman is co-editor of Southeastern Geographer, a peer-reviewed journal distributed by UNC Press, and the author (or co-author) of over 30 book chapters, journal articles, and commentaries. In 2005, Alderman received the University of North Carolina Board Of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award from East Carolina University.