Rural Sociology

Rural sociology is a sociological field studying human societies and social groups in rural and non-metropolitan areas domestically and internationally. Rural sociologists engage in applied, multidisciplinary research and continuously develop theory and knowledge relevant to public policy and local development related to the environment, food, agriculture, and communities.

Rural sociology research focuses on environmental well-being, sustainable development of natural resources, social and community quality of life, and diffusion and impacts of technologies. The faculty in SENR provides expertise for students to focus on agriculture and the environment or social change and development. The rural sociology faculty is part of a larger cluster of social science faculty in the school and maintains ties to Ohio State University Extension (OSUE) and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).

Active Graduate Advisors:

Kerry Ard
Douglas Jackson-Smith
Shoshanah Inwood
Jeffrey Jacquet
Kristi Lekies
Linda Lobao
Kenneth Martin
Sayeed Mehmood
Cathy Rakowski
Jeff Sharp
Eric Toman

Recent Theses and Dissertations (available on OhioLink*)

D. Apudia-Sjogreen	MS	"We used to...": The Decline of Social Capital on Providencia Island, Colombia
G. Apaliyah	PhD	An Analysis of the Effects of Program Structure and Content on Outcomes of Community Leadership Education Programs
E. Caricofe	MS	Handcrafting The Change They Want To Eat In The World? An Inquiry Into The Who, What, and Why of Artisanal Food Production in Central Ohio
D. Deemer**	PhD	Spatial Inequalities in Fiscal Distribution of the US Welfare State
J. Glastra	MS	Inequality in Farmworker Wages: Race, Space, and Legal Status
L. Harrington	MS	PROGRESA/Oportunidades Mexico's Conditional Cash Transfer Program: Promises, Predictions and Realties
T. Henshaw**	PhD	Agricultural Social Infrastructure: People, Policy, and Community Development
M. John	PhD	The Impact of Race, Class, and Gender on the Assimilation Patterns of Second-Generation Caribbean Immigrants in the United States
A. Kim	MS	People's participation in decision making in mining in Peru: Exploitation or opportunity?
E. Parisian	MS	Health Care Reform and Rural Hospitals: Opportunities and Challenges under the Affordable Care Act
T. Sherry	MS	The Life Satisfaction of Voluntary Simplifiers: Is Low Materialism a Path to Happiness
H. Scott	MS	Interst groups and contemporary agricultural policy: an examination of niche theory
A. Stough-Hunter	PhD	Examining the Role of Community and Gender on Perceptions of Impaired Water Quality: A Comparative Case Study
A. Thatcher	MS	Using Gender and Location to Examine the Effects of Geographic and Social Proximity in Determining Attitudes and Behavior about Animal Welfare

*OhioLink articles available to OSU students, faculty, and staff
**Student advised by SENR faculty in other OSU graduate programs

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Rural Sociology