Change in Rural Society

Catalog description

Social change in rural society, emphasizing prediction and control of the change process. Even years. R SOC (CEDEV) 516 Change in Rural Society (3) Rural America has experienced change throughout its history, but the most rapid have occurred in the past three decades. Forces of urbanization, industrialization, technological change and globalization of the economy drive change in rural America, and the effects of these forces differ across the United States. Some rural areas benefit from the changes that occur while others are devastated. Some rural people and places are able to adapt and view change as an opportunity, while others are unable to respond to the forces that threaten them. Individuals, families and communities have changed in response to these broad forces. This becomes manifest in new patterns of inequality, family life, educational attainment, migration, age and racial patterns, health and well-being, and local service availability. Questions examined in this course include: What are the theories that explain or describe the social change that has been affecting rural people and places? What industrial restructuring and economic change has occurred in rural areas, how has it affected rural areas, and what drives this restructuring? What other social change has taken place, and can we determine potential sources of that change? What are the options available to rural people and communities as they adapt to forces of change, and how much can they influence their own futures? Underlying each of these questions is the issue of whether the well-being of rural people, families, and communities has improved or is threatened by these changes, and which rural areas are most likely to benefit and which are threatened. Students will leave the class with a broad understanding of the forces affecting rural America, and how and why those forces influence some people and places differently. Grades are assigned in this class based on a term paper on a topic related to rural social change, reaction papers written about each set of reading assignments, serving as discussion leader, and class participation.