Volume 32-3 September 2012
ISSN 2154-7599
Volume 32 Number 3
September 2012
The Rural Sociologist
Editor: Kenneth E. Pigg, 18621 N. Rt. F,
Harrisburg, MO 65256
CONTENTS
President’s Column…………………….3
Treasurer/Exec. Dir. Column ………….5
Annual Meeting 2012………………… 7
RSS Seeing TRS Editor ……………….8
RSS Oral History Project ……..……...10
Of Interest to RSS Members…………. 30
Job Announcements …………………. 38
RSS Officers and Committee Chairs….50
Scraps from Pigg’s Pen ………………53
The Rural Sociologist ©is published quarterly by the
Rural Sociological Society, 2019 JFSB, Brigham Young
University, Provo, UT 84602 to provide information and
comment of interest to members of the Rural Sociological
Society. Periodical Postage paid at Provo, Utah.
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to:
The Rural Sociologist
Rural Sociological Society
2019 JFSB
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
Tel: 801-422-3242
E-mail: Rural_Sociology@byu.edu
Office of Publication:
The Rural Sociologist is published by the Rural
Sociological Society, 2019 JFSB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602 USA
The Rural Sociologist (TRS):
TRS publishes announcements, articles, commentary and
letters that are relevant to concerns of the Society as space
permits. We also include announcements for awards, meetings, job opportunities, activities of members, recent books
by rural sociologists and activities of the Society.
Manuscript Style Requirements:
Refer to Vol. 20, No. 4 of The Rural Sociologist or contact
the RSS Business Office.
Copy deadlines:
March issue: March 1
June issue: June 1
September issue: September 1
December issue: December 1
Inquiries:
The Rural Sociologist is published electronically and made
available to members as a benefit of their membership.
Inquiries should be made to the:
RSS Business Office
2019 JFSB
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602 USA
©Copyright 2012 The Rural Sociological Society
ISSN 2154-7599
2
RSS President’s Column
The Rural Sociologist
Volume 3 Issue 3
September 2012
AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL: RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCY IN AN
AGE OF RETRENCHMENT
The theme of the 2013 Meetings in New York City, August 6-9 calls attention to the rural roots
of solidarity and change in the context of global restructuring and political retrenchment. The
injuries endured by rural peoples across the globe—physical, psychological, and socioeconomic—will be explored as a crosscutting theme for scholarship and action.
What can we learn from the struggles of rural peoples and from
the successes and failures of past rural social movements?
Looking forward, how can the field of rural sociology extend its
contributions to public policy and civil society? How can we
construct alternatives and alliances that revitalize networks and
enhance community and social well being? Research interest
groups are encouraged to develop sessions on the social bases of
resistance and resiliency across place and space.
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining are industrial settings
where workers are subject to disabling and fatal injuries.
These are also industries where occupational segregation by
gender is pronounced, regulation is controversial, concentration
of power has increased, and government agencies often lack the
capacity to enforce occupational safety and health regulations. Rural sociology has long considered the impacts of the structure of agriculture and the impact of natural resource extraction on
rural communities and the environment, but the toll of these labor processes on workers’ health
and the well being of their communities needs to be added to our agendas about class, race, gender, and place-making inequalities. Workplace injury and inequality is, to extend Sennett and
Cobb (1993), another one of the hidden injuries of class, race, gender, and spatial inequalities,
at both the micro and macro-levels.
Rural manufacturing, especially the history of the textile industry in the rural American South,
reveals another face of workplace injury and its intersection with multiple forms of inequality.
The photos of Lewis Hine on child labor taken during the years 1908-12 (see http://
www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/) document the dark side of rural industrialization. Some may think that child labor was an historical aberration, but recent reports about
worker abuses involved in the manufacture of advanced electronic devices and in the harvest of
the organic cotton that goes into up-scale clothes, show that child labor is a global problem.
According to the United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO), approximately 215
million children throughout the world work and many of them are subject to the worst forms of
child labor, including slavery and other forms of forced labor. By 2016, the ILO has the goal of
eliminating these abuses of child labor.
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RSS President’s Column
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Despite the long history of inequality and injury to rural peoples, resistance to global oppression
remains vibrant. Fair-trade and labor rights groups, are trying, with various degrees of success,
to create labor processes and commodity chains that do not oppress children. Community organizations, women’s rights, and racial justice movements are battling the retrenchment of
workers’ rights and the decline of the social contract, including the right to a safe and healthy
workplace. Historically, both progressive and backward-looking social movements have drawn
participants from rural populations. Rural sociology has a long tradition of scholarship about
and engagement with grassroots struggles against the retrenchment of social, civil, and workers
rights. How can rural social scientists/sociologists understand what James C. Scott called the
“weapons of the weak” to improve local and global resistance and resiliency in the home, the
workplace, and the community? What forms of resistance and resiliency promote solidarity and
action across class, race, gender and spatial divisions? Traditionally, rural sociologists emphasize either stratification structures and processes or community solidarity and bridging and
bonding networks. By approaching the current era of economic restructuring and political retrenchment in terms of an “injury to one is an injury to all”, we can combine our efforts and advance scholarly and public rural sociology agendas. Decent work, decent communities, decent
food systems, and decent health for all should be our goals.
Michael Schulman
President, Rural Sociological Society
Central Park in New York City—a little bit of nature amidst the built environment.
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RSS Treasurer’s Column
The Rural Sociologist
Volume 32 Issue 3
September 2012
The State of the Society
For me, the Annual Meetings in Chicago constituted a double milestone in the RSS. We celebrated the Society’s 75th Anniversary, and it was the end of my first term as Executive Director
and Treasurer of the RSS. It makes for an ideal moment to give a State of the Society Report.
I am happy to report that the state of the RSS is strong. We are financially strong. We are in
the black in all categories and running at an efficient level where our expenditures are well
within our income. We are strong in membership; we have been increasing in membership and
are now at a level that has not been seen since before 2005. At the time of the RSS meetings,
we were at 662 official members of the RSS.
We have “reinvented” business as usual at the RSS. Just because we have always done it that
way, is no longer a legitimate reason to keep doing it that way. We have streamlined our organizational structure by combining four standing committees into two. We have also eliminated
the required number of committee members on Standing Committees and in its place, passed a
required minimum number of members allowing the RSS President and Committee Chairs
greater flexibility in staffing the various committees. These changes will allow us to be more
nimble and responsive as an organization. Further, the Development Committee is currently
working on criteria that will outline priorities in how the RSS spends and otherwise invests its
resources. This will allow the RSS to continue to function within its means but at the same
time better identify those things that will be the most beneficial to the society vis-à-vis all other
options. It will prioritize not only our investments, but our efforts. It will allow all the committees to be working from the same page knowing what the overall priorities of the RSS are.
Our journal Rural Sociology is riding high. As of this year, it is the number twelve journal
among all indexed sociology journals. It has an impressive impact factor of 1.886.
We continue to be blessed with enlightened, dedicated and talented leadership in our Presidents
and Council members. It has been a pleasure working with them. I look forward to Michael
Schulman’s Presidency this year.
Our Membership Renewal and Annual Meeting registration has all been moved to electronic
format. While there remain a few glitches, (generally when members change their email address as the systems identifies members by their email address), it has made it possible for easier data searches and queries, we no longer have to store sensitive data such as members’ credit
card numbers in the RSS Business Office; and it has cut down significantly on the labor hours
and potential errors hand processing financial data through checks and credit cards.
By way of professional communications, we have developed and launched two new websites - - the Society Website and Homepage, and our Annual Meeting website. The intent has been to
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make them both more easily navigable, less cluttered and more informative. Along these lines,
we have also launched the monthly Electronic Bulletins (eBulletins) which announce jobs,
headlines, and other announcements and direct recipients to the webpage for the full story.
Over the next three years, my goal for the Society is to better position the RSS in a federation of
similar International Organizations that share our disciplinary perspectives, intellectual drive,
and commitments to better understanding the dynamics of rural life in our day and beyond. I
hope to leverage our financial and intellectual resources to better cooperate with sister internationally-based societies and institutions versus reinventing the wheel and infringing on someone
else’s turf. We have already begun conversations with ESRS (European Society for Rural Sociology) to potentially create “super memberships” that would allow membership in both societies and access to both societies’ respective journals for a higher membership price but not one
equivalent to purchasing both independently. These conversations are just getting underway,
but I have great hopes (and plans). We are at a time when we need to reinforce that we all need
and can use each other’s’ strengths to further the study of rural social life in the 21st Century.
We are also at a time in the RSS where we need to look beyond the immediate confines of the
USA, Canada and Mexico to better understand the dynamics of change affecting even local rural life. This is one way I wish to further internationalize the RSS with limited liability.
Finally, I wish to thank you all for your support and input. I apologize for those times when I
and/or my staff fall short of expectations and promises. We will continue to try and serve the
RSS with conscientiousness and dedication over the next and last three years of my term as Executive Director. It is a pleasure and privilege to serve you, the members of the RSS; my academic and intellectual professional home.
Sincerely:
Ralph B. Brown: Executive Director and Treasurer
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RSS Annual Meeting 2013
The Rural Sociologist
Volume 32 Issue 3
September 2012
2013 RSS Annual Meeting, August 6-9th
Theme:
An Injury to One is an Injury to All: Resistance and Resiliency
in an Age of Retrenchment
Tentative Program Schedule:
March 1
Online Registration Opens
March 15
Abstract Submission Ends
May 20
Early Registration Ends
June 10
Online Registration Ends
August 6th
Field Trips
Workshop: How to Write Policy Briefs
2013 Council Meeting
Presidential Address and Reception
All Day
All Day
All Day
Evening
August 7th
Sessions
Keynote Speaker
Plenaries
Graduate Student Reception
TBD
Day
Evening
Sessions
Business Meetings
Awards Luncheon
Day
TBD
Sessions
2014 Council Meeting
Graduate Student Workshops
Day
Day
August 8th
August 9th
For more information, contact the Annual Meeting Co-Chairs, Elizabeth Seale (State University of New York,
Oneonta) or Greg Fulkerson (State University of New York, Oneonta) at RSS2013@oneonta.edu.
Host Hotel:
Sheraton New York Hotel
811 7th Avenue 53rd Street
New York, New York 10019
Phone: (212) 581-1000
www.starwoodhotels.com
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RSS Seeking Editor for TRS
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September 2012
Editor Solicitation
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR 2013-2016 EDITOR of The Rural Sociologist (TRS)
The former RSS Professional Communications Committee was charged with reviewing the status and the future of TRS. The committee found that TRS provides three core functions: 1) newsletter, 2) commentary, and
3) governance. In its review, the committee debated whether or not RSS actually needed to continue publishing TRS. In its July 2012 meeting, the RSS Council reviewed the options, including discontinuing TRS. No
firm decision was reached. However, the Publications Committee was charged to issue a call for the TRS Editor as a way of gauging if there is interest in continuing TRS in one form or another. The current editor, Professor Kenneth Pigg is retiring. The RSS Business Office does not have the staff support to take on the editorial function.
The Rural Sociological Society (RSS) Publications Committee requests proposals from current members of
RSS to serve as the 2013-2016 Editor of The Rural Sociologist (TRS). TRS is presently a quarterly publication that contains news of activities of the Rural Sociological Society Council, RSS committees, RSS research
interest groups (RIGs) and RSS members. Also included has been an editorial column and information of interest to rural sociologists found in a number of sources related to rural policy, research funding, and outreach
programs. Short papers, including historical notes about RSS, have at times been published.
Further information about TRS may be found at: http://www.ruralsociology.org/?page_id=112.
The Editor of TRS is responsible for soliciting and preparing content. The overall impact goals, role and format of TRS will be shaped by the new editor. The three-year appointment begins January 2013. RSS does not
pay for office space or release time. Letters from deans and other institutional authorities are not required or
recommended at this time. We welcome proposals that take seriously the idea that TRS is in a time of transition and that new thinking about the role electronic media might play in keeping the RSS informed and in
promoting the RSS externally. Applicants may want to contact retiring TRS Editor Kenneth Pigg to better understand the demands and responsibilities of the position. A comprehensive report on the history of TRS prepared by RSS historian Prof Julie Zimmerman is available as a pdf file upon request. A stipend would be considered.
Applicants are invited to submit:
1. A curriculum vitae (no page limit)
2. A vision statement (5 page limit) that includes:
a. evidence of understanding the mission of the Rural Sociological Society across the
activities in which RSS is engaged and a clear vision of the role TRS will play in that mission
b. an assessment of the status of TRS(strengths and challenges) and a vision for the
TRS
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spectrum of
future of
RSS Seeking Editor for TRS
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c. evidence of organizational skill and leadership in the field
d. evidence of the feasibility for the Editor to fulfill their three-year commitment to TRS
e. proposed budget, indicating estimates of budget needs and sources of support (e.g., support from
host department and institution, RSS Business Office)
The RSS publications committee chaired by Professors Grigsby and Glenna will review applications and
make a recommendation to the RSS Council. Send applications as file attachments to Co-Chairs of RSS Publications Committee: Mary Grigsby, Department of Rural Sociology, 228 Gentry Hall, University of Missouri
-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211 (email grigsbym@missouri.edu) and Leland Glenna, Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education, Pennsylvania State University, 105-C Armsby, University
Park, PA 16802, (email llg13@psu.edu ).
Deadline is October 30, 2013.
The Unisphere in Corona Park, Flushing Meadows. This park is the site of two world’s fairs and many attractions today. —Photo courtesy Phil Kline.
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What Was Happening When RSS Began?
1937
World Events
Italian regime bans marriages between Italians & Abyssinians
2nd of Stalin's purge trials
The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War
German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain
Buchenwald Concentration Camp opens
Italy withdraws from League of Nations
German immigration officials with no explanation bar Juan Carlos Zabala (Arg), 1932 Olympic marathon
champion, from entering Germany
Japan Invades China and seizes Peking, Tietsin, Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangchow
Kiichiro Toyoda founds the Toyota Motor Company in Japan
Popular Culture
Millionaire Howard Hughes sets transcontinental air record (7h28m25s)
1st broadcast of "Guiding Light" on NBC radio
"Prince Valiant" comic strip appears
Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig, debut
Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for "Gone With the Wind"
Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan disappear over Pacific Ocean
Joe DiMaggio's 1st grand slammer
John Steinbeck's "Of Mice & Men," premieres in NYC
National Basketball League (NBL) created by 3 corporations: General Electric, Firestone and Goodyear
Disney releases Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Death on the Nile is published by Agatha Christie
The Hobbit is published by J. R. R. Tolkien
Technology
1st Charlie Chaplin talkie, "Modern Times," released
1st airmail letter to circle globe returns to NY
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1st FM radio construction permit issued (W1X0J (WGTR) in Boston MA)
1st feature-length color & sound cartoon premieres (Snow White)
The First Blood Bank Opens in Chicago
1st congressional session in air-conditioned chambers
U.S.
A huge dust storm sweeps from Oklahoma westward
Unemployment continues to drop to 14.3% dropping some 6.7% from the previous year.
The Memorial Day Massacre takes place when Ten union demonstrators are killed when police open fire
on union protesters in Chicago (later declared ‘justifiable homicide’)
44-day sit-down strike at General Motors in Flint Michigan ends
1st permanent automobile license plates issued (Ct)
US Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day
1st state contraceptive clinic opens (Raleigh NC)
William H Hastie becomes 1st black federal judge (Virgin Islands)
1st US social security payment made
Henry Ford initiates 32 hour work week
US Housing Authority created by National Housing Act
FDR dedicates Bonneville Dam on Columbia River (Oregon)
Lincoln Tunnel (NYC) opens to traffic
Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term
After a number of strikes in the Auto industry General Motors were forced to recognize the UAW United
Auto Workers Union.
Increases in the number of Infantile Paralysis cases ( Polio ) in Chicago causes cities schools to stay closed.
The German airship Hindenburg bursts into flames while attempting to moor at Lakehurst, New Jersey
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is opened
World Political Leaders
Germany: Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Italy: Prime Minister Benito Mussolini
Russia / Soviet Union: General Secretary of the Central Committee Joseph Stalin
United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Born in 1937
Loretta Swit
Madeleine Albright
Warren Beatty
Bill Cosby
Jane Fonda
Morgan Freeman
Dustin Hoffman
Jack Nicholson
Roger Penske
Colin Powell
Sources:
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1937.html
http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1937
What Was Happening At the Fiftieth RSS Anniversary?
1987
World Events
Pres Reagan & Soviet Gen. Secretary Gorbachev sign treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles
Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, is kidnapped in Beirut
Margaret Thatcher is elected as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the third time
Corazon Aquino is elected president in the Philippines
US Justice Dept bars Austrian Chancellor Kurt Waldheim from entering US, due to his aid of Nazi Germany during WW II
Oscar Arias (Costa Rican Pres) wins Nobel Peace Prize
Head of Salvadoran Human Rights Comm assassinated by death squads
South Korean voters overwhelmingly approved a new constitution
New Nicaraguan constitution takes effect
Tamil bomb attack in Colombo Sri Lanka, 115 killed; Sri Lanka Air Force bomb Tamil, 100s killed
American engineer Ben Linder is killed in an ambush by U.S.-funded Contras in northern Nicaragua
USS Stark hit by Iraqi missiles, 37 U.S. sailors die
Taiwan ends 37 years of martial law
1st of 3 massacres by Sikh extremists takes place in India
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South Africa ANC-leader Govan Mbeki freed
11 die as a bomb planted by Irish Republican Army explodes
Palestinian uprising against Israel in West Bank
Popular Culture
"Star Trek: The Next Generation," debuts on syndicated TV
"Thirtysomething," debuts on ABC-TV; “The Simpsons” seen on TV for the first time
In Midland, Tx 1½-year-old Jessica McClure falls 22' (7m) down a well, rescued 58 hrs later
NFL Players Association orders an end to 24 day strike
John McEnroe fined $17,500 for tirades at US Tennis Open
14th American Music Award: Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie & Alabama
"Les Miserables" opens at Broadway/Imperial
1st Soul Train Music Awards: Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross
59th Academy Awards - "Platoon," Paul Newman & Marlee Matlin win
First expedited salvaging of Titanic wreckage begins by RMS Titanic, Inc.
Fox Broadcasting Co. made its prime-time TV debut
Technology
NEC releases the first 16-bit home entertainment system, the TurboGrafx-16, known as PC Engine
Philips introduces CD-video
IBM releases PC-DOS version 3.3
IBM introduces PS/2 & OS/2
1st heart-lung transplant take place (Baltimore)
Clive Sinclair launches the Z88 Portable Computer weighing under 2 LBS
Disposable Contact Lenses became available for commercial distribution
U.S.
Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
"Nightline" presents it's 1st "Town Meeting" the subject is AIDS & the show runs until 3:47 AM
Dow Jones continually breaks record highs
"Black Monday" Dow Jones down 508.32 points (22%), 4½ times previous record
Stock markets around world follow: Australia -41.8%, Canada -22.5%, Hong Kong -45.8%, and the UK 26.4%.
Ivan F Boesky sentenced to 3 years for insider trading
7 top NY Mafia bosses sentenced to 100 years in prison each
Pres Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran
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Pres Reagan's veto of Clean Water Act is overridden by Congress
John Demjanjuk, accused of being "Ivan the Terrible" trial begins
Bomb blamed on Unabomber explodes by computer store in Salt Lake City
US Supreme Court upholds (5-4) affirmative action
Vatican formal opposition to test-tube fertilization & embryo transfer
John Gotti is acquitted of racketeering
PTL leader Jim Bakker resigns after sex scandal with Jessica Hahn
FCC imposes a broader definition of indecency over airwaves
Congress conducts Iran-Contra hearings
Gary Hart quits democratic presidential race (Donna Rice affair)
Supreme Court ruled dangerous defendants could be held without bail
Subway gunman Bernhard Goetz trial after shooting 4 black youths who tried to rob him
Bork nominated to Supreme Court, later rejected by Senate
Kiwanis Clubs end men-only tradition, vote to admit women
FCC vote 4-0 to rescind fairness doctrine for broadcasters
Iceberg twice the size of Rhode Island sighted in Antarctic
First Case in an American court ruling on the validity of Surrogacy is declared in the "Baby M" case
Alan Greenspan becomes chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
World Political Leaders
Canada: Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
France: President François Mitterrand
Germany: Chancellor Helmut Kohl
India: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
Russia / Soviet Union: General Secretary of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev
Times Square in the 1930s.
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RSS Trivia Game
created for the 75th Anniversary of the Rural Sociological Society
Julie N. Zimmerman, RSS Historian
1. Who was the first president of the of the Rural Sociological Society?
Dwight Sanderson was the first President of the Rural Sociological Society. Three years later, Sanderson was elected
President of the American Sociological Society (later named the American Sociological Association [ASA]). He was
also the 1st chair of the ASS [ASA] Section on Rural Sociology.
2. What was the original name for the RSS?
The name used for the provisional constitution adopted December 1937 was The Rural Sociological Society of America. With the adoption of a permanent Constitution and By Laws in December the next year, the name became the Rural
Sociological Society
3. Who were the champions behind the minority report that led to creating the RSS?
The two champions behind the minority report that led to forming the Rural
Sociological Society were O.D. Duncan who presented the minority report
and T. Lynn Smith who organized support for it.
4. What wa the first national organization to have “Rural Sociology” in its name?
The National Association of Rural Sociology Extension Workers was the first national organization to have “Rural Sociology” in its name. The organization was formed and constitution adopted in 1931 during the ASS[ASA] conference. In
1938, the Association voted to join the RSS. This added 41 members from 14 states and several USDA officers to RSS.
5. In what year did RSS adopt its current governance structure and standing committees?
In 1962 the RSS formally changed its constitution to adopt the current governance structure with a Council and standing
committees. The previous structure reflected that used by during the ASS[ASA] Section on Rural Sociology years with
separate committees on research, teaching, and extension.
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6. Who conducted the first federally-supported rural sociological research in the U.S.?
In 1897, DuBois received support from U.S. Commissioner of Labor to study the conditions
of small, well-defined groups of the black population. The first study was in Farmville, Virginia.
In 1901, DuBois, made also a study of black landholders in Georgia again under Department
of Labor auspices and a comprehensive analysis of the status of black farmers based on the
1900 U.S. Census for the Census Bureau.
7. When did the Committee on Diversity officially become a permanent standing committee of the RSS?
1997. While there had been ad hoc committees over the years, at the 1997 RSS conference in Toronto, the RSS Constitution and By Laws were changed to add the Diversity Committee as a permanent standing committee.
8. In what year did RSS change its language so that the person heading committees was called “chair,” not
“chairman?”
1980. By a vote of the membership, in 1980 the RSS formally changed its constitution. From that point on, leadership
positions of RSS committees was changed from “chairman” to simply “chair.”
9. Which well-known women in the social reform movement were among the first members of RSS?
Sophonisba Breckinridge and Gertrude Vaile. Both Breckinridge
and Vaile were active in the social reform movement.
While in Chicago, Breckenridge lived at Jane Addam’s Hull
House and Vaile at the Chicago Commons. Today, Breckinridge
is remembered as one of the early American sociologists and for
her many roles in the Progressive era reform movement. Vaile is
credited with establishing case-work principles in Governmentsponsored social work practices.
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10. Who is the most recent person to serve as both RSS President and president of the Population Association of
America?
Dan Lichter (RSS 2010-2011) is the 3rd RSS president to also
serve as president of the Population Association of America
(2012). The others were Margaret Jarman Hagood (RSS 195556/PAA 1954-55) and C. Horace Hamilton (RSS 1949-50/PAA
1960-61).
11. Which president simultaneously served as both President of RSS and President of the Agricultural History Society?
In 2007-2008, Jess Gilbert simultaneously served as President of BOTH the Rural Sociological Society and the Agricultural History Society.
12. Who was the first “Lifetime Member” of RSS?
When the new membership category of “Lifetime
Member” was created, Bill Freudenberg was the
first person to use it.
13. When was the first book published in the RSS Monograph Series?
1972. The first book published in the RSS Monograph Series was Differential Fertility in a Metropolitan Society by
Rodger R. Rice and J. Allan Beegle.
14. When did the Rural Studies Series replace the RSS Monograph Series ?
At the 1980-1981 Mid-Year Meeting, Council decided to replace the RSS Monograph Series with the newly created Rural Studies Series.
15. How many books have been published in the RSS Rural Studies Series ?
There have been at least 44 books published in the RSS Rural Studies Series. Books include our now traditional decennial volumes and historical research as well as research on women, farming, natural resources, race, poverty, and many
other issues relevant to rural areas.
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16. Which came first? the Rural Sociological Society or the journal Rural Sociology?
The journal Rural Sociology came first. Rural Sociology began publishing in
1936, one year before the Rural Sociological Society of America (1937) and
two years before a permanent Constitution created the Rural Sociological Society (1938).
17. Who was the first editor of the journal Rural Sociology?
The first editor of Rural Sociology was Lowry Nelson at Utah State University. He was
editor for Vol. 1(1) – Vol. 5(4) published from 1936 to 1940.
18. Who is the first and only woman to serve as editor of the journal Rural Sociology?
Ann Tickamyer is the first and only woman to serve as editor of the journal Rural Sociology.
She was editor for Vol. 65(1) – Vol. 67(4) published from 2000 to 2002.
19. Who was the first editor of Rural Sociology not located at a Land Grant University?
The first editor of Rural Sociology who was not located at a Land Grant University was Carle C.
Zimmerman at Harvard University. He was editor for Vol. 6(1) – Vol. 7(4) published from 1941
to 1942.
20. Which 2 people are the only ones to serve simultaneously as both Treasurer of RSS and Editor of TRS?
Only 2 people have served simultaneously as both RSS Treasurer and Editor of
TRS: Rabel Burdge and Ken Pigg. (Ken Pigg continues to serve as the editor
of TRS.)
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21. What was the name of the first regular newsletter of the Rural Sociological Society?
Newsline. Published between 1973 and 1980, the publication had three editors: Don Crider,
Penn State University (1973-1975); Ted Hyman, NC State University (1976-1979); and Will
Goudy, Iowa State University (1980).
22. In what year did NEWSLINE become The Rural Sociologist (TRS)?
In 1980, NEWSLINE became The Rural Sociologist (TRS). The change was overseen by editor Will
Goudy at Iowa State University.
23. Who is the longest serving editor of The Rural Sociologist (TRS)?
Ken Pigg is the longest serving editor of TRS. So
far, he has served for 12 years (2000-present).
24. Who was the first editor of TRS to list an email address (and when)?
In 1988, Rex Campbell was the first editor of TRS to list
an email address. (It was printed: “RUSORA2 at
UMCVMB”)
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25. When did RSS unveil it’s first website?
In 1996, RSS President Jan Bokemeier announced the new website in TRS. Its first contents included:
The annual conference preliminary program
Tables of Contents from Rural Sociology
List of books and monographs of the Rural Sociological Series
The Bulletin Index
26. Who developed the first website for RSS?
The first RSS website was designed by Charles Tolbert and Len Bloomquist at Louisiana State University. It was hosted
at the LSU Population Center under the direction of Charles Tolbert. (LSU was also the first university to sponsor the
journal Rural Sociology.)
27. When was it first proposed that the RSS membership directory should include email addresses?
At the Mid-Year meeting of the 1988-1989 RSS Council, the first proposal was made that the RSS Membership Directory should include email addresses. At that time, they were called “bitnet” addresses.
28. When was the RSS Taskforce on Persistent Rural Poverty announced?
In 1990, the RSS formed the Taskforce on Persistent Rural Poverty.
The Taskforce was chaired by Gene Summers. Among its accomplishments, the Taskforce wrote Persistent Poverty in Rural America
which was published in 1993.
29. In what year did the journal Rural Sociology devote a special issue to the farm crisis?
In 1986, a special issue of Rural Sociology was devoted to the farm crisis. It was was edited by
William Falk and Forrest Deseran.
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30. Did Galpin really use wheel ruts to determine community boundaries?
As Olaf Larson reported in an article in TRS, while Galpin used the description of wheel ruts to explain the concept of community boundaries, he did not actually use them as a research technique.
31. What is considered the first, and for a time, the largest branch of American Sociology?
Rural Sociology. In the recent edited volume on the history of American Sociology (Sociology in America: A History)
conducted for the American Sociological Association, volume editor Craig Calhoun notes that rural sociology was
“initially and until World War II one of the field’s largest branches” (2007:3).
32. What was the first section organized within the American Sociological Association [ASA]?
The Section on Rural Sociology was the first section organized within the American Sociological Association. It was
formed in 1921 and held its first meeting in 1922.
This initiated the practice of specialized sections with the American Sociological Society [ASA].
33. When was the first time that the ASS Rural Sociology Section formally considered separating from the
American Sociological Society?
1928 is the first time that members of the ASS Section on Rural Sociology formally considered forming an organization
separate from the American Sociological Society.
At that time, the decision was made to remain with the ASS/ASA, but to organize the section along more formal lines
34. Has the American Sociological Association ever held a national conference with a rural theme?
The ASA annual conference has twice had a rural theme:
1916 – “The Sociology of Rural Life” (Pres. George E. Vincent)
1928 – “The Rural Community” (Pres. John M. Gillette)
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35. Which 4 presidents does the ASA and RSS have in common?
1942 Dwight Sanderson
(RSS President 1938-1939)
1971 William H. Sewell
(RSS President 1954-1955)
1946 Carl C. Taylor
(RSS President 1939-1940)
1967 Charles P. Loomis
(RSS President 1947-1948)
36. Who convinced the U.S. Census Bureau to collect data on the farm population?
Charles J. Galpin and Veda Larson (Turner). Veda Larson (Turner) at the USDA’s Division of Farm Population and
Rural Life conducted the special tabulations which Division head Charles Galpin used to convince the Census Bureau to
include farm population in the county level data for both the Agriculture Census and the Census of Population.
37. In what year did the U.S. Census Bureau stop making a separate count of the farm population during the decennial Census?
In 1993, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it would no longer count the number who live on farms in its 10 year
Census. The reason given was that in the 1990 Census the number dipped to 4.6 million, or just below 2 percent of the
total U.S. population.
38. When did the U.S. rural population first dip to just below 50% of the total population?
1920. Results from the 1920 Decennial Census showed for the
first time that the urban population of the U.S. slightly exceeded that of the rural population.
39. What was the “population turnaround?”
The Population Turnaround refers to the shift in population dynamics that occurred in the 1970s. Because of in-migration, between 1970 and1980, the U.S.
nonmetropolitan population grew at a faster rate than metropolitan areas.
Calvin Beale, USDA Demographer & Historian
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46. How many presidents of RSS spent time working in the USDA’s Division of Farm Population and Rural Life?
13 RSS Presidents spent some point in their careers working in the USDA’s Division of Farm Population and Rural Life:
Carl Taylor, Lowry Nelson, Charles P. Loomis, C. Horace Hamilton, Nathan L. Whetten, Margaret J. Hagood, Irwin T.
Sanders, Olaf F. Larson, Harold Hoffsommer, Paul J. Jehlik, A. Lee Coleman, Robert McNamara, and Edward O. Moe
47. Who was the first president of the American Sociological Society [ASA] to serve in the position while employed outside of academia?
Carl C. Taylor was the first person to serve as President of the American Sociological Society [ASA] (1946) while employed outside of academia.
At the time, Taylor was head of the USDA’s Division of Farm Population and Rural Life. He also
served as the 2nd President of RSS (1939-1940), 2nd person to chair the ASS [ASA] Section on Rural Sociology (1923), and president of the American Country Life Association (1935).
48. Which study led to the 1946 U.S. Congressional ban on “Cultural Surveys?”
The Coahoma County Study. Conducted by Frank D. Alexander in 1944 while at the USDA’s Division of Farm Population and Rural Life, the Coahoma County, Mississippi study was not the first conducted by the Division to describe racebased inequalities, nor was it different from the other cultural reconnaissance surveys done in the South at the same time.
However, it was part of a great deal of controversy. In the appropriations bill that followed, in addition to funding cuts,
Congress issued a ban on using any of the funds for “cultural surveys.”
49. When the USDA’s Division of Farm Population and Rural Life was ended, what did it eventually become?
The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS). In 1953, most of the Division’s work was transferred to the Rural Life
Branch of the Agricultural Economics Division in the Agricultural Marketing Service. In 1961, the current Economic
Research Service was created.
50. When was the first mid-year Council meeting held?
1971. At the 1970 Council meeting held during the annual conference. The Council minutes read: “Because of the increased work of the Council and so that the Council can properly do the business of the Society, there was a general feeling that we should have a meeting of the Council sometime in January 1971. January 29 was suggested as a possible
date” (Rural Sociology 35(4):599-600).
51. When did the RSS make the position Secretary/Treasurer into 2 separate positions?
Effective August 1975, President Frederick Fliegel announced that the Secretary/Treasurer position was being separated
into two separate positions. Both positions would be for a 3-year term. (NEWSLINE 1976. 4(3):38).
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52. Who was the first woman to chair a standing committee of the RSS?
Mary Eva Duthie was appointed to the Committee on Extension in the first year of RSS
(1937). The following year, she became chair of the committee. Today, the Theatre Association of New York State has an award named in her honor. The Mary Eva Duthie Award recognizes outstanding contributions to theatre in New York state.
53. When (and where) was the first course on rural social life offered?
The first course on rural social life was offered in 1894 by Charles R. Henderson in the Department of
Sociology at the University of Chicago. It was called“Social Conditions in American Rural
Life.” (16 students enrolled in the course.)
54. When was the first rural sociology course taught at a Land Grant University?
The first course in rural sociology offered at a Land Grant university was in 1904 at the Rhode Island Agricultural College.
55. When was the first national survey on rural life conducted?
1908. Theodore Roosevelt’s Country
Life Commission conducted the first
national survey on rural life in the
United States.
56. Who wrote the first textbook on rural sociology?
John M. Gillette. In 1913, Gillette published the first textbook on rural
sociology: Constructive Rural Sociology.
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57. Which university was the first to form a department of rural sociology?
Cornell University. The department was created in 1915 and named the Department of Rural Social Organization. It became active in 1918 with Dwight
Sanderson at the helm. In 1939, it was renamed the Department of Rural Sociology. Today, the department is named the Department of Development
Sociology
65. How many presidents does the RSS and the Southern Sociological Society have in common?
The RSS and the Southern Sociological Society have 8 Presidents in common:
2007 Ron Wimberley (RSS President 1991-1992)
1977 Tom Ford (RSS President 1972-1973)
1963 Alvin Bertrand (RSS President 1967-1968)
1959 Harold Kaufman (RSS President 1961-1962)
1958 C. Horace Hamilton (RSS President 1949-1950)
1956 Irwin T. Sanders (RSS President 1956-1957)
1947 T. Lynn Smith (RSS President 1941-1942)
1945 Howard Beers (RSS President 1951-1952)
66. Who is the oldest living past president of the RSS?
Olaf F. Larson (RSS President 1957-1958). As a graduate student, he attended the
meeting that formed the RSS and joined the RSS in its first year of existence. Today
Olaf is 102 years old. The next oldest living past president is George Beale (RSS
President 1968 -1969).
67. Which sociology journal began publishing the year before Rural Sociology?
The American Sociological Review (ASR). Up until December1935, the American Journal of Sociology (AJS) had been the official journal of the American Sociological Society. Replacing AJS as the official journal of the American Sociological Society, and the events surrounding it, have become known as the ASR
Rebellion.
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68. Which rural sociologists participated in the ASR rebellion (1930s) in the American Sociological Society
[ASA]?
Newell Sims was one of the leaders in the ‘rebellion’ that included
ASR replacing AJS as the official journal of the ASA. In the elections that followed, Sanderson and Kolb were elected first and second vice president respectively.
69. Who wrote the 6-part series of articles on the history of the RSS?
John Holik and Ed Hassinger wrote a series of 6 articles that traced the history of the Rural Sociological Society. The
articles were written for the 50th Anniversary of RSS and they were published in TRS in 1986 and 1987.
70. When was the last comprehensive history of Rural Sociology as a field published?
The last comprehensive history of rural sociology as
a field was Rural Sociology: Its Origins and Growth
in the United States. Written by Lowry Nelson, it
was published in 1969. Prior to Nelson’s book, in
1957 Edmund DeS Brunner wrote The Growth of a
Science: A Half-Century of Rural Sociological Research in the United States.
71. In what year was the first issue of Rural Realities published?
The first issue of Rural Realities was published in 2006:
“At the Razor’s Edge: Building Hope for America’s Rural
Poor” written by Leif Jensen.
72. Which RIG of the RSS directly led to similar sections being formed at the SSSP and the ASA?
The Natural Resources Research Group (NRRG). The NRRG began in 1964 as the Sociology of Forestry Research
Committee. (After several name changes, it eventually became the NRRG.) It was members of this group who subsequently organized similar groups in both the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) and the American Sociological Association (ASA).
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73. When did the Sociology of Agriculture and Food Research Interest Group (SAFRIG) celebrate it’s 30th anniversary?
The Sociology of Agriculture and Food Research Interest Group (SAFRIG) celebrated it’s 30th anniversary during the
2008 annual RSS conference.
74. What is the most recently formed Interest Group ?
The Rural Studies RIG was formed in 2008.
75. The Program Chairs for both the 50th Anniversary and the 75th Anniversary of RSS were located at which
university?
The Program Chairs for both the 50th and 75th Anniversaries of RSS were located at the University of Kentucky.
Rick Maurer, Progam Chair, 50th
RSS Meeting
Keiko Tanaka, Program Chair, 75th
RSS Meeting
An alternative to the subway and cabs in NYC is
the bus—a double decker at that!
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Of Technicalities and Actualities:
When did the RSS Begin and its First President Actually Serve?
An astute observer noticed that while we celebrated our 75th Anniversary in 2012, our first president
(Dwight Sanderson) is dated as serving in 1938. If the dating of Sanderson’s term is correct, this would make
2012 our 74th and not our 75th Anniversary. So, why the disparity between the dates? And, is this really our
75th Anniversary?
This short write-up is about technicalities and actualities and how, despite our attempts to re-construct history in clear (and often linear) terms, in actuality, it is more likely to be a messy, complicated, and at times
convoluted, story.
So, when exactly did the RSS actually begin?
The RSS began as the Rural Sociological Society of America (RSS of A). The vote to establish the RSS of
A occurred in December of 1937 which is 75 years from 2012. The members of the American Sociological
Society’s (ASS) Section on Rural Sociology voted to accept a provisional Constitution and By Laws and
Dwight Sanderson was elected president of the organization.
So, if the vote to establish what became the RSS occurred in 1937, why is the 1938 date used for the first
president’s term?
Two factors may be behind the commonly-used 1938 date. First, technically speaking, the initial year of
what became the RSS was a provisional one. It was done to provide Sanderson time to pursue his idea of retaining official ties with the ASS while also becoming a separate organization. In the end he was unsuccessful,
but how and why this happened – or didn’t happen – is another story.
Since Sanderson was not successful, in December of 1938 (the following year), members voted to make
the Rural Sociological Society of America a permanent organization. This time, the name became simply the
Rural Sociological Society (minus the “of America” part) and a permanent Constitution and By Laws were
accepted. This means that, technically speaking, while the RSS of A began in December 1937, the RSS actually did start in (December) 1938.
Another factor that might have affected how we dated the organization lies in when the votes actually took
place. The vote to provisionally establish the RSS of A occurred in late December, 1937 – at the end of the
year. This means that the calendar year of 1938 was the organization’s first full year of operation.
So, if the vote to establish what became the RSS occurred in December of 1937 with Dwight Sanderson as
our first president, how did we end up with Sanderson’s presidential term being dated as 1938-1939?
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One explanation for the date difference could be that the list might have been constructed by counting
backwards using our current timing of presidential terms (assuming that the terms began/ended at the same
time and were all for only one year). However, there were two times in our history when this assumption
about the length of presidential terms does not hold true.
The first time a presidential term exceeded 1 year was in 1942. Because of restrictions related to World
War II, the RSS annual meeting was cancelled (along with many other professional meetings in the U.S.). As
happened in a number of professional organizations, there were no provisions for elections to be held by any
other means than in-person and during the annual meeting. Consequently, President C. E. Lively actually
served longer than one year until a substitute ‘annual’ meeting and vote could be arranged. This “ate up”
about 6 months in the dating of presidential terms.
Another 6 months could have been “eaten” when the RSS changed the timing of its annual meetings. Traditionally, annual meetings for many social science professional organizations had been held in December between Christmas and New Years. At some point, the schedule was changed to the summer conferences we
now hold. Because of the shift in when the annual conferences were held, this could have also affected the
timing and length of how we date presidential terms.
Because of all of this, while the vote to make Sanderson our first president happened in 1937, our current
dating convention and the timing of presidential terms (following the school or fiscal type year), combined
with our assumption that these have always held true, could have impacted our long-standing list of presidential terms.
At some point we might want to change how we date our presidential terms and clarify our inaugural year.
But, some might argue it is only a technicality. Still, as stated at the start of this short piece, history does not
exist “out there” to be discovered. We all participate in its construction and re-construction. Perhaps this discrepancy and the confusion it generated this year will be cause for another ‘human re-construction’ of how we
officially date our organization and presidents.
Julie N. Zimmerman
RSS Historian
June, 2012
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National Science Foundation Grant Opportunity: Coastal SEES (Coastal SEES) Science, Engineering and
Education for Sustainability
Synopsis of Program:
A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met equitably and without sacrificing the ability of future
generations to meet their needs. Meeting this formidable challenge requires a substantial increase in our understanding of the integrated system of society, the natural world, and the alterations humans bring to Earth.
NSF's Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) activities aim to address this need
through support for interdisciplinary research and education.
Coastal SEES is focused on the sustainability of coastal systems. For this solicitation we define coastal systems as the swath of land closely connected to the sea, including barrier islands, wetlands, mudflats, beaches,
estuaries, cities, towns, recreational areas, and maritime facilities; the continental seas and shelves; and the
overlying atmosphere. These systems are subject to complex and dynamic interactions among natural and human-driven processes. Coastal systems are crucial to regional and national economies, hosting valued humanbuilt infrastructure and providing ecosystem services that sustain human well-being. More than half of the
world's human population lived in coastal areas in 2000, and this proportion is predicted to increase to 75 percent by 2025.
Humans benefit from their use of coastal environments for enjoyment, dwelling, food, industry, and commerce, altering them physically, chemically, and ecologically. These alterations influence and interact with
natural variability, extreme events, and long-term change to affect the system as a whole, including human
benefits. A major challenge is to understand the dynamics of this coupled human-natural system in order to
inform societal decisions about the uses of coastal systems, including for economic, aesthetic, recreational, research, and conservation purposes. Such understanding requires integration of natural, social, economic and
behavioral sciences. It includes, for example, an understanding of reciprocal feedbacks between humans and
the natural environment; how people and organizations interpret, assess, and act upon scientific and other evidence; and how they weigh these interpretations against other interests to influence governance and decisionmaking. Thus, coastal sustainability relies on broad and intimately interconnected areas of scholarship about
natural and human processes.
[More information at http://go.usa.gov/r7J5 ]
Athens Institute for Education and Research-ATINER (www.atiner.gr)
Call for Papers and Participation
7th Annual International Conference on Sociology, 6-9 May 2013, Athens, Greece
The Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER) organizes its 7th Annual International Conference
on Sociology, 6-9 May 2013, Athens, Greece. The conference website is: www.atiner.gr/sociology.htm.
The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars and students from all areas of Sociology, Social Work
and other related fields. Theoretical and empirical research papers will be considered.
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The registration fee is €300 (euro), covering access to all sessions, two lunches, coffee breaks and conference
material. Special arrangements will be made with a local luxury hotel for a limited number of rooms at a special conference rate. In addition, a number of social events will be organized: A Greek night of entertainment
with dinner, a special one-day cruise in the Greek islands, an archaeological tour of Athens and a one-day visit
to Delphi. Details of the social program are available at http://www.atiner.gr/2013/SOC-SOC.htm
Please submit a 300-word abstract by 8 October 2012 via email, atiner@atiner.gr to: Dr. Gregory A. Katsas,
Head, Sociology Research Unit, ATINER and Associate Professor, The American College of Greece-Deree
College, Greece or by regular mail to: ATINER, 8 Valaoritou Street, Kolonaki, 10671 Athens, Greece. Tel. +
30 210 363 4210 Fax: + 30 210 3634-209. Please include: Title of Paper, Full Name(s), Current Position, Institutional Affiliation, an email address and at least 3 keywords that best describe the subject of your submission.
Please use the abstract submitting form available at http://www.atiner.gr/2013/FORM-SOC.doc. Decisions are
reached within 4 weeks.
If you want to participate without presenting a paper, i.e. organize a panel (session, mini conference), chair a
session, review papers to be included in the conference proceedings or books, contribute to the editing of a
book, or any other contribution, please send an email to Dr. Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER
(gtp@atiner.gr).
ERS Releases Annual American Food Security Report
The United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service today released its report, Household Food Security in the United States in 2011.
An estimated 85.1 percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2011, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The
remaining households (14.9 percent) were food insecure at least some time during the year, including 5.7 percent with very low food security-meaning that the food intake of one or more household members was reduced
and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and
other resources for food. The prevalence rate of very low food security increased from 5.4 percent in 2010, returning to the level observed in 2008 and 2009. The change in food insecurity overall (from 14.5 percent in
2010) was not statistically significant. The typical food-secure household spent 24 percent more on food than
the typical food-insecure household of the same size and household composition. Fifty-seven percent of all
food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance
programs during the month prior to the 2011 survey.
The report can be downloaded from: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/
err141.aspx
See the "key statistics and graphics" page for highlights from the report: http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/foodnutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx
Household-level micro-data is available on Dataferrett and on the Census Bureau's ftp site. See the ERS Current Population Survey-Food Security Supplement data page for information: http://www.ers.usda.gov/dataproducts/food-security-in-the-united-states.aspx
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Journal Symposium on Freudenburg's Legacy Now Available
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that a special issue of the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences containing
a symposium on the "Legacy of William R. Freudenburg" is now out, and that Springer has kindly provided
open access to it for one month (so check it out now). The table of contents is given below, and here is the
link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/p754733tj74q/
Debra Davidson and I edited the symposium, and it consists largely of articles that stem from presentations
made at the "Freudenfest" conference at UCSB back in November of 2010--less than two months before Bill
Freudenburg's untimely death. While clearly I am not unbiased, I believe it consists of an extremely strong
set of articles, and that anyone wishing to get a sense of Bill's wide-ranging and fundamental contributions to
environmental/natural resources sociology and related areas will find them of interest. Most not only provide
thorough reviews of Bill's work in selected areas, but also do an excellent job of demonstrating how his ideas
can be further developed and fruitfully employed.
JESS is the journal of the Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, a rather new and highly interdisciplinary organization that Bill played a key role in founding. It is edited by political scientist Tony
Rosenbaum, and has a large, multidisciplinary and international editorial board board--including several environmental sociologists: Tom Dietz, Hisayoshi Mitsuda, Paul Mohai, Timmons Roberts, and me.
You can peruse the four issues of Volume 1 from last year via the same link provided above to get a sense of
the wide range of articles being published, and I'm confident that some of you will find JESS to be an appropriate outlet for your work.
Bill regarded formation of AESS as one of his major accomplishments, and I personally hope to see more environmental sociologists joining it. (I'm looking forward to attending my first AESS meeting this summer.)
It clearly offers an ideal means of exposing ourselves to inter- and multi-disciplinary perspectives on environmental matters.
Enjoy the symposium issue. I'm confident that Bill would be pleased with it, and I hope that his many fans
will be as well.
Regards,
Riley E. Dunlap
Regents Professor
Laurence L. and Georgia Ina Dresser Professor Department of Sociology Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK 74078
405-744-6108
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New Leadership at Census Bureau
With the departure of Bob Groves to become the Provost at Georgetown University, the U.S. Census Bureau
has new leadership in a number of key positions. Thomas Mesenbourg, the former Deputy Director, has been
elevated to Acting Director, a position he has held before during earlier periods without a Presidentially- appointed and Senate-confirmed director.
Mesenbourg has worked at the Census Bureau since 1972. He has served as the Assistant Associate Director
for Economic Programs, chief of the Economic Census Staff, and chief of the Economic Census and Surveys
Division. He has planned and processed the Census of Agriculture and the Economic Census and organized
the 1991 International Conference on Classification that led to the development of the North American Industry Classification System. In 2011, Mesenbourg was the recipient of the Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for
Economic Statistics. Mesenbourg earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Boston University in 1968
and his master's from Penn State in 1971.
To replace Mesenbourg as Acting Deputy Director, the Bureau has tapped Nancy Potok. She was serving as
the Associate Director for Demographic Programs at Census. She had previously been the Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Before joining the Department, Potok was
the chief operating officer at McManis and Monsalve Associates and the senior vice president and director of
the Economics, Population and Labor Studies Department for the National Opinion Research Center at the
University of Chicago. She had previously worked at the Census Bureau from 1995 to 2002, when she served
as principal associate director and chief financial officer. She is an elected fellow of the National Academy of
Public Administration. Potok holds a Ph.D. in public policy and administration from George Washington University, a master's degree in administrative science from the University of Alabama and a bachelor's degree in
environmental studies from Sonoma State University in California.
One of Director Groves' legacies is the strengthening of the research component of the Bureau. He appointed
Michigan statistician Roderick Little as the Bureau's Associate Director for Research & Methodology and
Chief Scientist and leader of a new directorate focusing on those areas. Little left the Bureau this summer. Before leaving, Groves named Thomas Louis to replace Little, effective January 2013. Louis is professor of biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His doctorate is in mathematical
statistics from Columbia University, and he headed the biostatistics department at the University of Minnesota.
He is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and a fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
--Used with permission from COSSA Washington Update, 31-16: (9.12.12).
COPAFS Appoints Katherine Smith as New Executive Director
The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) has appointed Katherine "Kitty"
Smith as its new Executive Director. She replaces Ed Spar, who has led the organization since 1992. Smith
will begin her new position on October 1.
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Smith comes to COPAFS from the American Farmland Trust (AFT) where she is the Chief Economist and
Vice President for Programs. Prior to her position at AFT, she was the Administrator of the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Smith is an active member of the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) and the Northeastern
Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA). A Fellow of AAEA, she served as an elected
member of the Board of Directors and an elected member of the AAEA Foundation. She has also served as co
-editor of the Review of Agricultural Economics. In June 2012, she received the Outstanding Public Service
through Economics Award from the NAREA. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park in Agricultural and Resource Economics.
The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, founded in 1980, provides for open dialog between its members and the Federal statistical agencies. Member organizations include professional associations, businesses, research institutes, and others interested in Federal statistics. COPAFS' objectives are to:
increase the level and scope of knowledge about developments affecting Federal statistics; encourage discussion within member organizations to respond to important issues in Federal statistics; and bring the views of
professional associations to bear on decisions affecting Federal statistical programs. COPAFS and COSSA
have worked closely together on many issues affecting the federal statistical system. RSS is a long-standing
member of COPAFS.
--Used with permission from COSSA Washington Update, 31-16: (9.12.12).
New Coalition on Agriculture Research Holds Webinar
On July 25, Supporters of Agricultural Research (SOAR) held a webcast focusing on current issues facing agricultural research. The hour and a half event marked the official launch of SOAR and included time
for pre-planned segments and viewer questions. SOAR is a new organization working to build a coalition of
farm and consumer groups, universities, and scientific organizations that will encourage federal science policy
to generate the agriculture innovations America and the world urgently need. SOAR's goal is to substantially
increase federal support for investigator-initiated agriculture research grants in such a manner that it enlarges
the group of scientists involved in this work.
Participating in the Webinar were: William Danforth, Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University and
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Donald Kennedy, President
Emeritus of Stanford University and former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and the former editor-in-chief of SCIENCE Magazine; Roger Beachy, former Chief Scientist at USDA and the first director of the agency's National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and Carol Tucker Foreman, Distinguished Fellow at the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute and a nationally known expert on food
safety.
Panelists indicated that throughout their careers they felt that agricultural science was "missing something."
This absent factor they suggested was how to tap into innovative thinking of American scientists, similar to the
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tutes of Health. Kennedy noted that the traditional agricultural research community was initially hesitant to
borrow this competitive method from the health sciences, but that there is a current effort to refresh the clock
and utilize a competitive peer review for agricultural research. Tucker-Foreman proudly declared that we have
led the world in agriculture production, but added that lack of communication among researchers is a huge
problem. The only way to organize this effort, according to Tucker-Foreman, is with federal government support for research. (Editor: Sounds like something out of the land grant tradition…?)
In response to a question, Danforth acknowledged that challenges are escalating, but affirmed that so too is
science's ability to meet them. American agriculture has always depended on innovation, he declared. Danforth underlined the need to see the best proposals, judge them, and pick the best of the
best. Tucker-Foreman expressed concern that at times the research enterprise seemed to address only the
needs of producers. She was delighted to examine Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) grants and
see some that directly addressed this concern.
Several of the panelists also spoke out against ethanol as an alternative fuel source during the event. Kennedy
proclaimed that the "experiment of using ethanol as fuel has not been a distinguished success at all." Cars
competing with people for food is a "troublesome situation," argued Kennedy. Danforth also noted that this
was an issue and announced that people at the Plant Science Center are working at developing fuel crops that
grow early in season before corn and soy beans need to start in order to allow for effective rotation with food
crops.
For more information about this event, including the full recording, please visit the SOAR website here.
--Used with permission from COSSA Washington Update, 31-15: (8.6.12).
Estimate: A New Amish Community is Founded Every 3 1/2 Weeks in U.S.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new census of the Amish population in the United States estimates that a new Amish
community is founded, on average, about every 3 ½ weeks, and shows that more than 60 percent of all existing
Amish settlements have been founded since 1990.
This pattern suggests the Amish are growing more rapidly than most other religions in the United States, researchers say. Unlike other religious groups, however, the growth is not driven by converts joining the faith,
but instead can be attributed to large families and high rates of baptism.
In all, the census counts almost 251,000 Amish in the United States and Ontario, Canada, dispersed among 456
settlements, the communities in which members live and worship. The 1990 census estimated that there were
179 settlements in the United States.
If the growth of the Amish population continues at its current rate, the Ohio State University researchers predict that the census could exceed 1 million Amish and 1,000 settlements shortly after 2050, and these numbers
will bring economic, cultural, social and religious change to the rural areas that attract Amish settlement.
Among the changes the researchers predict: Amish will buy up land vacated by farmers in rural areas close to
community services, but the availability of farmland might not keep pace with population growth. This means
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many Amish men will likely look for nonfarm jobs such as woodworking and construction trades, which could
affect land prices and potentially enhance local economies through the establishment of business startups.
The census restricted the count to Amish among the “Old Orders,” those who maintain a horse-and-buggy lifestyle and avoid or limit their use of most modern technologies.
The researchers who compiled the census used a variety of sources to produce this count, including current and
archival settlement directories and statistics from publications that cover some of the largest Amish communities, as well as by calculating estimates based on research-based facts about Amish settlement characteristics.
It took about two years to develop the census, which was commissioned by the Association of Statisticians of
American Religious Bodies for the recently released 2010 U.S. Religion Census.
“The Amish are one of the fastest-growing religious groups in North America,” said Joseph Donnermeyer,
professor of rural sociology in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, who led the census
project. “They’re doubling their population about every 21 to 22 years, primarily because they produce large
families and the vast majority of daughters and sons remain in the community as adults baptized into the faith,
starting their own families and sustaining their religious beliefs and practices.”
Donnermeyer compiled the count with Elizabeth Cooksey, professor of sociology, and Cory Anderson, a
graduate student in rural sociology, both at Ohio State. Anderson presented a paper in Chicago at the annual
meeting of the Rural Sociological Society.
The researchers describe the Amish as largely misunderstood based on their limited depiction on television
reality shows or in the news media. The Amish represent a branch of the Anabaptist (or rebaptized) movement
dating to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Based on their interpretation of the Christian bible,
the Amish settle where they can separate themselves from the world, minimize disturbance from others and
use the land for farming or other livelihoods, Donnermeyer said.
The church is central to Amish life and is intentionally small-scale in its organization in keeping with their religious philosophy of separation, Donnermeyer said. Larger settlements are composed of multiple church districts, which typically consist of a few dozen families whose baptized members use a lottery system to select
leaders. Worship services are held in members’ homes.
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“The Amish are one of the fastestgrowing religious groups in North
America. They’re doubling their population about every 21 to 22 years.”
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The absence of a centralized church registry makes it complicated to produce an accurate estimate of the Amish
population, Donnermeyer noted, but he said this census is
likely the most comprehensive scholarly count of the
Amish population to date.
He and his colleagues relied on more than 60 settlement directories they obtained from the Heritage Historical
Library, a privately owned Amish library, and three publications that cover news about various Amish communities, both large and small. Those publications are The Budget in Sugarcreek, Ohio, The Diary in Bart, Pa.,
and Die Botschaft in Millersburg, Pa.
The researchers also used demographic data from established settlements to produce average household estimates for newer or similar communities that had not published directories. A settlement, by definition, must
contain at least three households and include members who are able to hold a church service; these criteria
were the basis for estimating the population of settlements that were less than a year old.
Baptism into the Amish church is offered only to adults - a fundamental tenet of the Anabaptist movement. Of
the 250,784 Amish adherents identified in the census, 145,235 are considered nonmembers because they are
children who have not yet been baptized.
The census provides Amish population figures for each state with at least one Amish community. The researchers included Ontario, Canada, home to 15 settlements and almost 4,400 Amish, in the census. The
Amish live in 29 states, mostly in the Midwest and Great Lakes region but also as far south as Florida and
Texas, into the northeast reaches of Maine and as far west as western Montana.
According to the research, Ohio is home to the most Amish community members - 60,233 - and Pennsylvania
is a close second, with 59,078 Amish residents. Indiana has 44,831 Amish citizens. The 456 settlements contain a total of 1,868 Amish church districts of the “Old Orders.”
No state has seen more recent growth in settlements than New York, where 15 new settlements have been established since 2010. But 34 of Ohio’s 54 settlements have been founded since 1990, a trend that contributes to
the state’s large Amish population, Donnermeyer said. Ohio is also home to Holmes County, the U.S. county
housing the highest percentage of Amish, with 42 percent. The Greater Holmes County settlement, which
sprawls across six counties (Holmes, Wayne, Tuscarawas, Coshocton, Stark and Ashland), is the largest settlement, with nearly 30,000 Amish, followed by the Lancaster/Chester County settlement in southeastern Pennsylvania.
“My guess is that in 15 years, we’ll witness a county whose population is majority Amish, and Holmes County
is likely to gain that distinction first. Perhaps LaGrange County in Indiana will not be far behind,” Donnermeyer said.
--OSU News Release 7.30.12
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Colorado State University, Assistant Professor
The Department of Sociology invites applications for an entry-level tenure-track Assistant Professor (ninemonth position) to begin August 15, 2013. Completion of Ph.D. in Sociology or related social science is required by time of appointment. Applicants must also be able to teach a combination of courses related to sociology and environmental and natural resource sociology. The Department offers B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees and consists of thirteen tenured and tenure-track faculty members. The focus of the graduate program is
social change with four areas of strength in 1) environment/natural resources, 2) food, agriculture, and development, 3) crime, law, and deviance, and 4) social inequality, social justice, and governance. Faculty members
are expected to participate in instruction, to develop a program of research and publication, be engaged in the
graduate program, and to be active in service. Applications will be considered until the position is filled; however, candidates should submit complete applications by September 28, 2012 for full consideration. Once the
search committee has identified semi-finalists, departmental faculty will have access to those files. Interested
candidates should send as email attachments (1) letter of interest outlining research agenda and teaching interests, (2) a Curriculum Vitae, (3) if available, evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g., syllabi and teaching
evaluations), and (4) three letters of reference to: cla-soc_faculty_search@mail.colostate.edu
Full position announcement can be viewed at: http://central.colostate.edu/department/sociology/
Colorado State University is an EO/EA/AA Employer and conducts background checks on all final candidates.
Auburn University, Research Fellow
A Research Fellow (level I/II/III) in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (DAERS)
of the College of Agriculture at Auburn University is currently available to a qualified and highly motivated
candidate to play a key role in a food security project. The project has two key objectives: to survey the range
of production, processing and marketing practices of Southeastern farmers who sell their animal products
locally or regionally and to determine Southeastern consumers’ attitudes toward and beliefs about the
safety, availability, quality, affordability and desirability of local and regional foods.
This position is a 1 year limited term, non‐tenure, accruing position. Continuance (up to 2 additional years), is
based on satisfactory performance and availability of funding. The appointment may start as early as October
1, 2012. Full‐time employees of Auburn University are eligible for an attractive benefits package which can be
reviewed at http://www.auburn.edu/administration/business_office/payroll/.
Responsibilities: The successful candidate’s primary responsibility will be to develop, conduct, and analyze a
consumer attitudes survey; and in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia conduct a set of cattle producer case studies
and face‐to‐face interviews with small‐scale livestock supply chain actors. Under the direction of the project
team, the candidate will develop publications for relevant peer‐reviewed journals, outreach reports, and presentations at appropriate professional conferences and outreach venues.
Qualifications: The minimum qualification is an earned PhD in a relevant social science discipline (e.g., sociology, rural sociology, anthropology, geography, agricultural economics) by the time of the appointment. The
successful candidate will have a demonstrated knowledge of survey research methods and analysis, as well as
the methods and analysis of in‐situ observation and face‐to‐face interviews. The candidate must also demon38
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strate an ability to work effectively as a member of an interdisciplinary team, and to work independently to
achieve the goals outlined by the research team. Furthermore, they will have a record of publication and demonstrated knowledge of the agrifood system. A background in governance, especially food safety, is highly
desired. The Research Fellow will be required to work and to travel independently. Periodic overnight travel
for data collection and associated activities, as well as the presentation of research results, is expected. Thus, a
valid driver’s license is a requisite. The candidate selected as the Research Fellow must be able to meet eligibility requirements for work in the United States by the appointment date and continue working legally for the
proposed term of the appointment.
Application Procedure: Interested applicants should log on to www.auemployment.com and refer to requisition number 24285, position number 161100. Please provide a letter of interest that details your qualifications including a statement of your interests and goals as they relate to food security. Please also submit a complete C.V., undergraduate and graduate transcripts, and complete contact information (postal address, e‐mail
address, phone number) for three professional references that may be contact for letters of recommendation.
Only complete applications will be considered. Review of candidates will begin August 03, 2012 and will
continue until a suitable applicant is identified. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Auburn University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Contact: For additional information or questions about the position, please contact
Dr. Michelle R. Worosz
Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
306A Comer Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849‐5406
Phone: 334.844.5682
The Ohio State University, Assistant Professor
Department: School of Communication
Position: Environmental, Science, or Risk Communication
Rank: Assistant Professor
Description of the Position: The School of Communication at The Ohio State University invites applicants for
an assistant professor position in the area of environmental, science, or risk communication. The successful
candidate will focus on understanding the impacts of environmental, science or risk communication on a range
of audiences and stakeholders about environmental and science issues. This faculty member will be expected
to develop undergraduate and graduate courses on environmental, science, and/or risk communication and to
contribute to the Environment, Energy and Sustainability strategic initiative within the College of Arts and
Sciences. This faculty member will have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty in the School of Environment & Natural Resources and to participate in the Human Dimensions of the Environment (http://
hde.osu.edu) initiative at OSU.
The School is committed to empirical, social-scientific research on communication processes, either basic or
applied, making original and substantively important contributions, and is regularly ranked among the top
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communication research programs in the country. We seek colleagues who will help us continue this tradition
and can envision research projects and courses that will be attractive to graduate and undergraduate students
from within the major, and speak to the interests and needs of non-majors. We have recently renovated a number of research labs and teaching facilities to support quality research and teaching (see http://www.comm.ohio
-state.edu/graduate/research/research-space.html). All of our positions involve research, teaching, and a service
component.
Qualifications: Candidates must have a Ph.D. degree in communication or related social science field or be
ABD and earn the Ph.D. prior to August 2013. Applicants should have a demonstrated record or strong likelihood of publication in top-tier journals as well as evidence of effective teaching. Candidates with graduate
work or professional experience in the area of environmental, science, or risk communication and/or public
policy, and demonstrated familiarity with environmental and natural resource topics are preferred. Complementary interests in mass communication, public opinion, social influence, health communication, or communication technology are attractive but not essential.
Application Instructions: Deadline for full consideration for this position is September 28, 2012, but applications will be considered until the position has been filled. Interested candidates should submit a cover letter,
curriculum vita, at least one research manuscript, evidence of
teaching effectiveness, and three letters of reference to the relevant OSU School of Communication posting at
https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/1665. Please be aware that we are conducting four separate searches in
2012-2013, so please select the specific position(s) in which you are interested. Informal queries may be made
to the chair of the search committee, William Eveland, at eveland.6@osu.edu, but all applications must be
made through www.academicjobsonline.org. Additional information about the School and the University is
available at http://www.comm.ohio-state.edu.
New York University, Associate/Full Professor
New York University’s program in Higher and Postsecondary Education invites nominations and applications
for a tenured professorship in higher education. The Higher Education program offers M.A., Ph.D., and Ed.D.
degrees designed to prepare researchers, practitioners, and leaders of colleges and universities and policy organizations. This appointment will provide the opportunity to strengthen the policy dimensions of our research
programs and curricular offerings and will include affiliation with NYU’s Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy. This position will begin September 1, 2013.
Qualifications: Candidates must be internationally-recognized scholars whose research focuses on public policy and/or organization and governance. In the current era of intense national and international focus on the
changing and challenging demands for the higher education sector, we seek a senior faculty member whose
research deepens our understanding of the policy questions and the organizational adaptations necessary to further the development and effectiveness of higher education systems for the larger society.
Responsibilities: Research, teaching, and advising/mentoring of students. Participation in facultymeetings,
committees and other service appropriate to a university faculty member is expected.
Requirements: The candidate must have:
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·
·
·
·
an earned doctorate in higher education or public policy or a related discipline (e.g., sociology, economics) which the candidate has used to study higher education;
a sustained record of funded research projects;
a significant record of publication in major national or international academic journals in the field of
higher education and/or related disciplines; and
experience in teaching and mentoring graduate students and in directing their research.
NYU’s dynamic Global Network University includes NYU Abu Dhabi and international programs and academic centers around the world. NYU Steinhardt faculty may be afforded the opportunity for variable term
work at these global study and research sites.
NYU is committed to building a culturally diverse educational environment and strongly encourages applications from historically underrepresented groups.
Applications: Candidates should apply online by submitting a vita, statements of research and teaching interests, and copies of representative publications, and the names of three recommenders to:
www.nyuopsearch.com/applicants/Central?quickFind=51231
Nominations can be sent to: alt.steinhardt@nyu.edu
Timeline: Review of applications will begin immediately until the position has been filled.
Further information about the position can be obtained from:
Associate Professor Matthew J. Mayhew, Search Committee Chair
Program in Higher and Postsecondary Education
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
New York University
Joseph and Violet Pless Hall
82 Washington Square East, 6th floor
North Carolina State University, Associate/Assistant Professor
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University is accepting applications
for a tenured or tenure-track appointment at the associate or advanced assistant level to begin fall 2013. The
successful candidate will have an active research and publication agenda in environmental sociology and/or
natural resources sociology and related subareas. Candidates should also have evidence of effective teaching
skills. Ability to teach theory or methods at the graduate level is preferred. Other qualifications include: (1) a
Ph.D. in sociology or related field; (2) a strong record of publication, with success or the promise of success in
securing extramural research funding; and (3) commitment to mentoring graduate students. Rank and tenure
status of the position will be commensurate with selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.
To Apply: All applicants must apply online by going to http://jobs.ncsu.edu and referencing position
#00100612. Applicants should be prepared to submit a vita and a cover letter describing research interests, research plans, and teaching interests. A statement of teaching philosophy is also requested.
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In addition, please have three letters of reference sent to Faculty Search Committee, Department of Sociology
and Anthropology, Campus Box 8107, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8107. Formal
screening of applications will begin October 8, 2012, and will continue until the position is filled.
The Ohio State University, Assistant Professor
We are seeking an assistant professor in the field of environmental and/or natural resource sociology to join
the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University.
This is a full-time, 9-month, tenure-track position in the School of Environment and Natural Resources. We
seek an environmental or natural resource sociologist who brings a strong disciplinary (rural sociological or
sociological) understanding of contemporary environmental and natural resource issues and Applicants with
either a domestic or international focus will be considered. The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong
research record in environmental and natural resource sociology.
The successful candidate will be expected to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses and meaningfully
contribute to the school’s academic programs as well as provide social science expertise to the school’s natural
science specializations. The candidate will be expected to actively contribute to the newly created undergraduate major Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability as well as the graduate specializations in
Rural Sociology and Environmental Social Sciences.
Position requirements: Ph.D. in rural sociology, sociology, or related social science discipline. Have established a grant and publication record or demonstrate a potential to develop such a record. The successful candidate will demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills and a willingness and ability to
work closely with other people. Also, must show evidence of a strong commitment to research and instruction
goals of the School of Environment and Natural Resources. Demonstrated teaching expertise is desired.
Salary is dependent on qualifications and experience. The Ohio State University offers one of the most comprehensive benefits packages in the nation, which includes medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; tuition
authorization; paid vacation and sick leave; ten paid holidays; and State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio
(STRS) or an Alternative Retirement Program. A start-up package, including discretionary funding, will be
provided.
Interested candidates should send a letter of interest summarizing areas of expertise, research interests, teaching and outreach philosophy, career goals, and experience appropriate to the position. Applicants should send
the letter, a curriculum vita or resume, a list of references, and have three letters of reference sent to envsoc.senr@osu.edu. Letters of application and reference letters should be addressed to Dr. Jeff Sharp, Search
Committee Chair.
Additional inquiries regarding the position should be directed to: Dr. Jeff Sharp, Search Committee Chair,
School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus,
Ohio 43210-1085, envsoc.senr@osu.edu.
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Applications will be reviewed starting October 15, 2012 and continue until a suitable candidate is identified.
The Ohio State University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer. Women, minorities, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
The Pennsylvania State University, Associate/Assistant Professor
The Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, College of Agricultural Sciences, seeks
applicants to fill a tenure track appointment at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor. The position is cofunded with Penn State’s Children, Youth and Families Consortium. This is a 9-month, full-time appointment
with teaching, research, and service responsibilities. The successful candidate will be expected to develop a
nationally recognized and interdisciplinary research program on the social demography of children, youth, and
families living in rural and urban areas. While the best candidates within this broad arena are sought, focused
expertise in one or more of the following areas would be regarded favorably: migration and immigration,
population health, family demography, population and environment, socioeconomic inequality, international
development, and spatial demography. Candidates with strong quantitative skills are especially encouraged to
apply. Applicants at the Associate Professor level should have an established record of research scholarship,
funding, and effective teaching. It is expected that the appointment will include a formal affiliation with Penn
State’s Population Research Institute, and that the successful candidate will contribute to its research mission
and intellectual community. Teaching responsibilities will include up to three courses per year and advising at
both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The candidate would be expected to contribute to the Department’s undergraduate program in Community, Environment and Development, the graduate program in Rural
Sociology, and the dual-degree graduate program in Demography. Participation in the online graduate program
in Community and Economic Development also is a possibility.
QUALIFICATIONS: Ph.D. in rural sociology, sociology, demography, or related field.
SALARY: Competitive, commensurate with qualifications and experience. An attractive benefits and start-up
package is available.
APPLICATION: Applicants will need to submit a letter of application, resume, names and contact information for three professional references, a photocopy of graduate transcripts, a sample of professional writing,
and evidence of teaching effectiveness (if available), to:
Leif Jensen, Search Committee Chair, Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education The
Pennsylvania State University, 106 Armsby Building, University Park, PA 16802
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
STARTING DATE: January 1, 2013, or as negotiated.
For information on the department and its programs, see: http://www.aese.psu.edu/ Employment will require
successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.
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Columbia University, Post Doctoral Fellow
The Earth Institute seeks applications from innovative postdoctoral candidates or recent Ph.D., M.D. and J.D.
recipients interested in a broad range of issues in sustainable development. The program is open to U.S. and
non-U.S. citizens. All doctoral requirements must be fulfilled and the degree awarded before the start of the
fellowship.
The Earth Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides scholars with the opportunity to
acquire the cross-disciplinary expertise and breadth needed to address critical issues in the field of sustainable
development such as food security, energy systems, climate change impacts, poverty reduction, disease, and
environmental degradation. Candidates who have developed cross-disciplinary approaches during their graduate studies will find numerous, unique opportunities to engage in research programs at the leading edge of sustainable development.
Candidates must complete the online application and submit a proposal for research that would
contribute to global sustainable development. Candidates may suggest participating in, contributing to, or extending existing Earth Institute projects, or develop new projects that connect Earth Institute expertise.
The deadline to submit applications is November 15, 2012 for fellowships starting in the fall of 2013. Fellowships are ordinarily granted for a period of 24 months. For more information about the program or to apply to
the Fellowship, please visit www.earth.columbia.edu/fellows or email fellows@ei.columbia.edu. Columbia
University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.
Colorado State University, Assistant Professor
POSITION: Assistant Professor of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Human Dimensions of Natural
Resources Department (HDNR), Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, Colorado
The Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department seeks to hire a dynamic and innovative individual
who will broaden the scope of expertise in HDNR and strengthen and expand our social science approaches to
cutting edge, interdisciplinary conservation research, teaching, and outreach. This is a nine-month, tenure track
position.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Required: 1) Ph.D. completed by August 2013 in a social science discipline related to duties described below. 2) At least one advanced degree focused on human dimensions of conservation in a field such as community-based conservation, conservation governance, environmental conflict,
livelihoods, systems thinking, human migration and/or leadership.
Highly Desirable Criteria: 1) Demonstrated or potential for excellence in teaching and advising in
topics related to this position. 2) Ability to develop an effective outreach/service program. 3) Publications in refereed periodicals on issues related to community-based conservation, livelihoods, leader44
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ship, conflict, migration or related discipline. 4) Ability to secure funding and build a successful research program, domestically and/or internationally.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 1) Develop and teach courses in disciplines related to communitybased conservation, governance, environmental conflict, livelihoods, systems thinking, migration and/or leadership. 2) Advise undergraduate and graduate students. 3) Establish a successful program of research and
scholarly activities, including support for graduate students. 4) Participate in professional, university, and
community service.
SALARY AND FRINGE BENEFITS: Commensurate with qualifications and experience. Sick leave per
University policy, group health, life, dental, disability, and retirement benefits.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: For full consideration send curriculum vita, official transcripts from all universities attended, representative publications, examples of outlines from courses taught, a list of four references (one of whom was your Ph.D. adviser), and a statement of interest that includes your outlook for combining your philosophy of teaching with your research and scholarly work among these fields. Letters of recommendation should include discussion of your potential for teaching and advising excellence at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
All application materials must be submitted electronically by October 1, 2012, to https://
warnercnr.colostate.edu/jobs/. Faxed applications are not acceptable.
DEADLINE: Applications must be submitted by October 1, 2012. The position will begin in August 2013.
Questions can be directed to Dr. Alan Bright, search chair: abright@warnercnr.colostate.edu
EcoAgriculture Partners, Director of Research
EcoAgriculture Partners is a non-profit organization that works internationally to bring about a world where
landscapes are managed to improve rural livelihoods, conserve native ecosystems, and sustainably produce
food and fiber The organization does so by providing training, research, policy solutions, and support to farmers, communities, and organizations at local, national and international levels. To learn more about EcoAgriculture Partners, please visit our website at www.ecoagriculture.org.
A centerpiece of EcoAgriculture Partners' work from 2011-2014 is to facilitate and co-lead the Landscapes for
People, Food, and Nature Initiative-a collaborative, international effort to advance and scale-up integrated agricultural landscape approaches worldwide. The Initiative is doing so by developing and communicating the
evidence base related to such approaches, fostering cross-sectoral knowledge sharing and dialogue, and developing and implementing a global action agenda. In these ways, the Initiative will improve multi-stakeholder
management systems in landscapes where food production, ecosystem health and human well-being must be
achieved simultaneously. For more information, please visit the Initiative website at
www.landscapes.ecoagriculture.org and the Initiative blog at http://blog.ecoagriculture.org.
Position Summary: To support the above efforts, EcoAgriculture Partners is hiring a Director of Research to
join our committed team in Washington, DC, as soon as possible. The Director of Research will lead research
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efforts for EcoAgriculture Partners, including with long-term collaborators at Cornell University, and will facilitate collaborative science and knowledge activities for the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative, including a Global Review of scientific evidence and knowledge gaps about integrated landscape approaches. We seek to hire a highly motivated individual who is committed to advancing the science of integrated agricultural landscape management, and ensuring high-quality scientific outputs from our organization.
The position calls for an individual who is able to mobilize research internationally and synthesize research
findings for policy and practice audiences. It calls also for rigorous and creative approaches to understanding
functions and processes in integrated agricultural landscapes. This is a full-time salaried position with benefits.
The position will involve domestic and international travel approximately 25% time.
Responsibilities: The Director of Research will:
Work with the EcoAgriculture Partners team to develop and implement the organization's research
strategy in line with its 2011-2014 Strategic Plan, which includes assessing the impacts of landscape
initiatives, synthesis of research on key scientific questions in landscapes, and analysis of market innovations;
Implement scientific studies and provide analytical input to development activities;
Ensure high standards for EcoAgriculture Partners' research activities and analytical products;
Collaborate with research partners around the world to advance the Global Review and the Science and
Knowledge Systems Working Group of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative;
Supervise post-doctoral fellows, project managers and research assistants, including those based at
Cornell University;
Participate in EcoAgriculture Partners' Senior Leadership Team which is responsible for internal strategy and major management decisions across the organization.
Required Experience and Skills:
PhD in ecology, agriculture/agronomy, geography, natural resources, earth sciences, international development, land use and regional planning, economics, social science or a related field;
At least six years of relevant research experience;
Excellent written and spoken English;
Outstanding writing skills;
Experience in communicating scientific issues to policy audiences;
Strong record of peer-reviewed publications;
Experience in research planning and team management;
Experience in interdisciplinary research related to land use and landscape management, ideally in the
context of agricultural systems;
Ability to work and prioritize tasks in a fast-paced and rapidly changing environment;
Ability to be an effective leader of a diverse, international team;
Legal right to work in the United States.
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Desirable Experience and Skills:
Ability to read, speak and comprehend additional major global languages, particularly French or Spanish;
At least six months' experience working in a developing country;
Eperience in applied land and resource use strategy and planning;
Experience in impact assessment.
Salary and Benefits:
The annual salary range for this position is $85,000-$115,000, depending on experience. Benefits include 29
days of combined annual and holiday leave; sick leave; health insurance; and a retirement contribution. This
full-time position is based in Washington, DC, and will begin as soon as possible.
Application Process:
Please e-mail a cover letter (maximum of 2 pages) describing your background, experience, and interest in this
position; your current curriculum vitae; three first-authored peer-reviewed publications; and three professional
references.
Please email completed applications, with the subject line "Director of Research-[your name]" to Rachel Friedman, rfriedman@ecoagriculture.org. Review of applications will commence on October 26, 2012 and continue until the position is filled. The Terms of Reference is also available online.
47
2012 RSS Officers &
Committee Chairs
President
Michael Schulman
Dept. of 4H,Youth Development
& Family & Consumer Sciences
NCSU College of Agriculture &
Life Sciences
Box 7606
512 Brickhaven Dr
Raleigh, NC 27695
Phone: 919-515-9016
Email: michael_schulman@ncsu.edu
The Rural Sociologist
Volume 32 Issue 3
September 2012
Phone: (801) 422- 3242
Fax: (801) 422- 0625
Email: ralph_brown@byu.edu
Executive Committee Chair (Past President)
Conner Bailey
Auburn University
Dept of Agric Econ/ Rural Sociology
202 Comer Hall
Auburn, AL 36849-5406
Phone: (334) 844-5632
Fax: (334) 844-5639
Email: cbailey@ag.auburn.edu
Vice President
Doug Constance
Dept of Sociology
Sam Houston State University
PO Box 2446
Huntsville TX 77380
Email: soc_dhc@shsu.edu
Council Member #1
Carmen Bain
Dept of Sociology
Iowa State University
308 East Hall
Ames IA 50010
Email: cbain@iastate.edu
President Elect
JoAnn Jaffe
University of Regina
Dept. of Sociology /Soc. Studies
3737 Wascana Pkwy
Regina, SK S4S 0A2
CANADA
Email: joann.jaffe@uregina.ca
Secretary
Curtis Stofferahn
University of North Dakota
Department of Sociology
Box 7136 University Station
Grand Forks, ND 58202
Phone: (701) 777-4418
Fax: (701) 777-2468
Email: curtis_stofferahn@und.nodak.edu
Executive Director and Treasurer
Council Member #2
Theresa Selfa
108 Marshall Hall
SUNY ESF
Syracuse NY 13210
Email: tselfa@esf.edu
Council Member #3
Pat Hipple
Student Council Member
Andrea Armstrong, Graduate Student Rep.
0730 Old Main Hill
Department of SSW&A
Utah State University
Logan UT 84322-0730
Email: ala23@cornell.edu
Ralph B. Brown
Brigham Young University
Department of Sociology
2034 JFSB
Provo, UT 84602
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2012 RSS Officers &
Committee Chairs
Standing Committees
Awards Committee
Chair: Joan Brehm
jmbrehm@ilstu.edu
Development/Endowment Committee
Chair: Doug Constance
soc_dhc.shsu.edu
Diversity Committee
Chair: Nikki Crowe
nikkicrowe@fdlrex.com
Membership Committee
Chair: Courtney Flint
cflint@uiuc.edu
Publications Committee
Co-chair: Mary Grigsby
grigsbym@missouri.edu
Program Committee
Chair: Greg Fulkerson
fulkergm@oneonta.edu
Co-Chair: Elizabeth Seale
elizabeth.seale@oneonta.edu
Nominations Committee
Chair: Angela Gonzales
jmbrehm@ilstu.edu
RIG Committee
Chair: Douglas Jackson-Smith
soc_dhc@shsu.edu
RIGS
Applied and Extension RIG
Chair: Kristi Lekies
Lekies.1@osu.edu
Co-Chair: Lorraine Garkovich
lgarkov@uky.edu
Community RIG
Chair: Gregory Fulkerson
fulkergm@oneonta.edu
Education and Work RIG
Chair: Kai Arthur Schafft
kas45@psu.edu
Family and Health RIG
Chair: Alex McIntosh
w-mcintosh@tamu.edu
Co-Chair: Wes Dean
wdean@rsph.tamhsc.edu
Natural Resources RIG
Chair: Rich Stedman
rcs6@cornell.edu
Co-Chair: David Matarrita
dmatarrita@ag.tamu.edu
Population RIG
Chair: John Green
greenjj1@gmail.com
Rural Gender Issues RIG
Co-Chair: Suzanne Talichet
s.tallic@moreheadstate.edu
Co- Chair: Aya Kimura
aya.hirata.kimura@gmail.com
Rural Policy RIG
Chair: Doug Jackson-Smith
doug.jackson-smith@usu.edu
Co-Chair: Glenn Sterner
ges5098@psu.edu
Rural Poverty RIG
Chair: David Peters
dpeters@iastate.edu
Rural Studies RIG
Chair: Kate MacTavish
kate.mactavish@oregonstate.edu
Co-Chair: Christopher Stapel
c.stapel@uky.edu
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The Rural Sociologist
Volume 32 Issue 3
September 2012
2012 RSS Officers &
Committee Chairs
Rural Racial Ethnic Minorities RIG
Chair: Michelle Eley
mleley@ncat.edu
Senior Rural Sociologists RIG
Chair: J. I. (Hans) Bakker
hbakker@uoguelph.ca
Co-Chair: Bill Lacy
wblacy@ucdavis.edu
Sociology of Agriculture & Food RIG
Chair: Bill Winders
bill.winders@gatech.edu
Co-Chair: Phil Howard
howardp@msu.edu
Teaching and Curriculum RIG
Chair: Susan Farner
sfarner@illinois.edu
Co-Chair: Jennifer Steele
jen.steele@mail.wvu.edu
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The Rural Sociologist
Volume 32 Issue 3
September 2012
Editor’s Column
The Rural Sociologist
Volume 32 Issue 3
September 2012
Scraps from Pigg’s Pen
Back in the March issue I mused upon the idea that
perhaps it was time to step aside as TRS editor. In
the meantime, I was contacted by the PCC to discuss
my ideas for the future of TRS—which I gave them
and they were basically the same message I had been
giving the Council since about 2005: the electronic,
social networking age has come of age and RSS
needs to get on board. Since then, I have notified the
RSS President that the December 2012 issue will be
my last as editor of TRS. You will find a notice for
applications for my replacement in this issue (P. 7)
and one has been sent to all members directly as
well. I think it is a tremendous opportunity for someone with some new ideas for using this technology
to take over and find new ways to communicate with
the membership—and perhaps interested other parties.
It was great to be at the 75th Anniversary meeting in
Chicago and I was impressed by several things. I
was glad to see so many past Presidents show up to
support the organization and especially happy to see
Milt Coughenour honored after all these years. We
don’t do a good enough job honoring our distinguished members. I was also pleased to see so many
new faces and names on the program. As Ralph reported at the business meeting, the membership
numbers are on the rebound and it certainly shows in
the number of young members finding rural sociology to be an attractive field of study.
Besides some of the “regular stuff,” I have included in
this issue quite a bit of material prepared by the RSS
Historian, Julie Zimmerman in celebration of the 75th
Anniversary year of RSS. I know she had to leave out
a lot of material as well, but there is some very interesting information here about our legacy to date.
This is a Presidential election year and, more than
usual, we are bombarded by campaign ads from nearly
every media source imaginable. I even heard that both
campaigns are embedding their messages in on-line
video games printed on the billboards and in other
hard to miss locations in the game layout. Nevertheless, your vote is important and I encourage you to go
beyond the advertising and “bits” you get from the
media and find out which candidate you think will
serve the nation best as President, then cast your vote.
The Cold War may be over but we face a War of Ideas
and Cultures that may turn out to be more threatening
to the American democracy than our long stand off
with the Russians after WWII.
Back to my opening remarks—for anyone who may be
interested in considering the Editorship of TRS and
wants to discuss related issues, please feel free to contact me directly at 573-882-4350 or
piggk@missouri.edu. I’d be happy to fill you in on my
experience.
Cheers,
Ken Pigg
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The Rural Sociologist
ISSN 2154-7599
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY
THE RURAL SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
2019 JFSB
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 80234
USA
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