Becoming Rural Changemakers Forum

The Rural Studies Institute is pleased to invite you to our annual Changemakers event. This year we will host a forum titled: Becoming Rural Changemakers. The event will foster interdisciplinary dialogue on regional inequality, economic transition in rural communities and place-based development strategies that impact rural communities. The goal is to generate thoughtful discussion and initiate actionable insights that advance sustainable advancement in our local community. We encourage you to join us and to share the announcement throughout the community.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, April 9, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Peabody Auditorium. 

We are honored to host four nationally recognized rural experts who will anchor this important conversation:

Sherrell Byrd, executive director of SOWEGA (Southwest Georgia Rising). Byrd is a native of Albany, Georgia, and serves as the executive director and co-founder of SOWEGA Rising: A nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing a 14-county region in Southwest Georgia, through rural revitalization, community organizing and coalition building. She is also noted for her rural fundraising and has leveraged millions of dollars for her work in rural Georgia. Byrd is a nationally recognized rural expert and has served as a 2024 Truist Foundation Fellow and past participant in the White House Rural Investment Tour. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology from Georgia State University.

Dr. Steven Conn, is the W. E. Smith professor of history at Miami University. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Yale University. A prolific scholar, public speaker and engaged faculty member, he is the author of several books on American History, culture and society. An active and noted scholar, he has served in various faculty capacities at The Ohio State University, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Warsaw and in the West China Faculty program in Xi'an China. He is the author of "The Lies of the Land: Seeing Rural America for What It Is — and Isn’t," published by the University of Chicago Press in 2023. This work challenges common myths about rural America and the forces that shape modern and complex rural communities.

Kathryn Edin, is the William Church Osborn professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University. She is also director of the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing and a leading national scholar on rural poverty and social inequality. Edin is a qualitative scholar and the author of multiple influential books and dozens of journal articles. She is a co-author of "The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America," by HarperCollins (2023). Edin has held faculty and leadership positions at several major universities including Rutgers University, Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University. She graduated with a B.A. in sociology from North Park University and received a master’s in sociology and Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University. Edin was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.    

Timothy J. Nelson, Ph.D., is a lecturer in sociology and public affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. A sociologist with a long history of research and teaching, Nelson has published extensively on issues including socioeconomic status and community inequality and has authored multiple books and journal articles. He co-authored "The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America" by HarperCollings (2023). He holds a B.A. in sociology from Westmont College and a master’s and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago. He has taught and conducted research at institutions including Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Please join us, and register using the link below.

https://forms.gle/4Z8bYGxbggAegWhU6.

Co-sponsors 

This event is co-sponsored by: The Department of Government and Sociology, The Department of Philosophy, Religion and Interdisciplinary Studies, The Ina Dillard Russell Library, and the Flannery O’Conner Institute for the Humanities, Georgia College & State University and the Milledgeville-Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.

This event is a part of the RSI Feast for Thought Initiative.