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Core Study

We have assumed that there are seven areas that all the groups should study:

• how to do the process
• what rural social science is and what it does
• the identity of changes impacting rural America
• rural culture
• how rural people make a living
• leadership and power in a rural setting
• effecting change in a rural community

We realize that in making these choices, we neglected some very important topics. We have sought to atone for this by offering the electives listed below for further study. The first five of these will be found in this volume. The latter three are in a companion volume.

We hope that the core study is only the beginning of your knowledge quest in the rural social science. In selecting electives, we have attempted to stay off of the turf of both the regional seminaries and of the community colleges. We anticipate that some groups will want to call upon these institutions to provide instruction. For example, if your group could enlist enough students, a college or seminary might offer an off-campus course, regular or special, for you. Currently, we have four electives ready--two on the Rural Church, the Rural Family, and the Rural Church and Social Change.