Roundup: January 18, 2023
A regular feature of our growing online journal, The Rural Review, these roundup posts collect notable recent research, analysis, and related rural news and commentary. Feel free to send suggestions for future collections to us here. And, more details on other opportunities to contribute to The Rural Review can be found here.
Recent Publications
Kenneth M. Johnson (Sociology & Public Policy, New Hampshire) has a new demographic study out in Rural Sociology: Population Redistribution Trends in Nonmetropolitan America, 2010 to 2021. After a decade of net rural population decline, Johnson explores a remarkable turnaround: new population estimates suggesting rural population gains that exceeded those in urban areas “for the first time in 50 years.” Johnson’s analysis explores how COVID-19 trends provided an unexpected “demographic lifeline” to many rural communities. A brief overview of Johnson’s findings are also available in this short blog-style piece, and related resources for communities looking to increase population are available in Rural Welcoming Initiative and Community Heart and Soul.
Phillip D. Grant (Leadership, Research, & School Improvement, West Georgia) and J. Kessa Roberts (Education & Leadership, Utah State) conducted a qualitative study aimed at understanding rural students’ college-going decisions through the lens of socioeconomic status and social capital, with results published in “You’re Poor, so You’re Not Going to do Anything:” Socioeconomic Status and Capital Accumulation as a Means to Access Higher Education for Rural Youth.
Helen Raikes (Child, Youth, & Family Studies, Nebraska) and colleagues published Evidence of the Effectiveness of a Home Visiting Model in Rural Communities: Early Steps to School Success in the Early Childhood Research Quarterly. This study is one of few, if not the only, of its kind to research cross-site and cross-state home visiting models exclusively in rural settings.
In “Homesick for Something That’s Never Going to Be Again”: An Exploratory Study of the Sociological Implications of Solastalgia, author Adrienne R. Brown (Sociology, New Hampshire) uses a concept called “solastalgia” to explore the consequences of encountering a landscape that is changed through acute or chronic environmental disruptions, creating a kind of “homesickness” for a changed place.
A new edition of the Encyclopedia of Rural Crime was recently published here, offering synopses of the key issues in rural crime, criminology, offending and victimization, and both institutional and informal responses to rural crime. More on criminal justice reform in rural communities can be found in Pamela R. Metzger’s (SMU Law) recent article, Rural Criminal Justice Reform.
Paul Kohlbry’s (Anthropology, Cornell) piece, Selling Rural Palestine: Land Devaluation, Ethical Investment, and the Limits of Human Rights, explores the challenges of pursuing “ethical investment” in rural Palestinian land.
News & Commentary
The Daily Princetonian’s article by Noelle Carpenter, My Rural Community and the Stories We Tell, discusses the intricacies of “anything but country” and rural prejudices in urban and academic settings. For another recent discussion on these themes, consider West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s podcast, Us and Them, by Try Kay, Todd Melby, and Matthew Hancock.
The Brookings Institute has launched a new podcast titled “Reimagine Rural.” In the first episode, host Tony Pipa profiles Shamokin, Pennsylvania, a former coal mining town, and examines how they have reclaimed land to turn it into an ATV park and breathe new economic life into the community. Future episodes are expected to profile other towns and dive deep into the current and future state of rural policy.
Much is still being written on climate change and rural America, including this recent piece on rural climate politics. Texas also recently made headlines with three times more wind, solar, and battery storage under construction than California in 2022, and the USDA continues to provide new investments in climate projects, now totaling over $3.1 billion.
University of Nebraska Medical Center has announced a new scholarship program for nursing students from certain neighboring states (Wyoming, Colorado, and South Dakota) to attend its rural campuses – the Nebraska Neighbors: UNMC Nursing Rural Advantage Scholarship. These scholarships aim to encourage qualified candidates to consider nursing in Nebraska and, specifically, to accept nursing positions after graduation in rural areas.
Events & Recordings
Andrew Curley (Geography & Development, Arizona) recently presented a summary of his latest work on the Colorado River - De-Colonizing the Colorado River: Can We Re-Think Our Relationship with Water? — for Arizona Humanities, and a recording of that presentation is now available.