Tag: Rural Studies

Governing the countryside: On modernity and progress in rural South Dakota.

June 12, 2018

BY THOMAS BIOLSIUniversity of California, Berkeley How should we make sense of “red states” and “blue states,” and in a way that does not fall victim to the political polarization that seems to have reached a crescendo in the present? My new book, Power and Progress on the Prairie, seeks to uncover the history of … More Governing the countryside: On modernity and progress in rural South Dakota.

Sustainability and North Dakota’s oil boom

March 27, 2013

The North Dakota frontier from Bentley, ND, in 2007. The state is currently experiencing phenomenal growth, and Dean Hulse looks at the environmental consequences of such growth. Photo from afiler via Flickr. Murmurings about North Dakota’s current oil boom began to surface in late 2008. While a global financial crisis was under way, North Dakota’s … More Sustainability and North Dakota’s oil boom

Farmers markets, Food, Inc., and truths about the history of farming

May 21, 2010

Today’s post is by Carrie A. Meyer, author of Days on the Family Farm: From the Golden Age through the Great Depression. The book chronicles the experiences of May and Elmo Davis, distant relatives of Meyer who kept a diary about the couple’s everyday experiences on the farm. The book showcases the large-scale evolution of … More Farmers markets, Food, Inc., and truths about the history of farming

Gayla Marty’s Memory of Trees: ‘A different kind of book’

April 12, 2010

“The last thing I wanted to do was write another farm memoir,” Gayla Marty said recently in an interview with the Star Tribune. “I thought, ‘It’s boring. There’s no market for it. No one would want to read it.’” With Memory of Trees, Marty has indeed remained loyal to her instincts. From passionate prose about … More Gayla Marty’s Memory of Trees: ‘A different kind of book’

Gayla Marty: On leaving—but not entirely leaving—the family farm

February 24, 2010

Gayla Marty grew up on a dairy farm near Rush City, Minnesota. She is currently a communications director at the University of Minnesota. Her new memoir, Memory of Trees: A Daughter’s Story of a Family Farm, reveals her search to understand her attachment to the family farm and the reasons it was sold. Marty still … More Gayla Marty: On leaving—but not entirely leaving—the family farm