A Dialogue on Rural: Definitions and Directions for Future Research

• In Event: Critical Considerations of Space and Place: Rural Student Experiences and Higher Education Opportunities

Abstract

We intend for this symposium to create a space where scholars interested in rural issues and the experiences of rural students in higher education can come together to collectively define “rural” and chart future directions for research. We recognize the limitations of our own positions as white, middle-class, educated women. While not all of us identify as straight, we all benefit from measures of straight privilege which shape our experiences of life and education in rural areas, as well. In the interest of widening and deepening the conversation beyond those who have the means and time to attend ASHE, we will create online forums for students and educators with interests in rural student experiences and pathways to college to add their voices the conversation. We hope that by un/covering the privilege in our own stories we will be able to disrupt the dominant narrative by directly naming and confronting it. We will utilize this space, additionally, as a venue for widening the conversation and welcoming those who bring perspectives and experiences different than ours. The structure (described below) is intentionally designed with this in mind.

Given the relevance of space and place to this symposium, we acknowledge the challenges that can accompany meetings that require travel. We will utilize technology before, during, and after the symposium as a way to prepare for, engage in, and ultimately create a critical space for scholars committed to disrupting the urbanormativity that we argue currently exists within the study of higher education. In the months leading up to the conference, we will launch a blog and host a twitter chat (#ruralhighered) to foster conversation about 1) interdisciplinary literature related to rurality and higher education, 2) current issues facing rural communities and people, and 3) strategies to confront the deficit discourse facing rural students today.

With this as a foundation, the symposium will begin the process of collectively defining “rural” and exploring the potential for future research that centers critical inquiry of rural students’ experiences with education. Employing the feminist practice of co-constructing knowledge (Tong, 2009), participants form dyads/triads to discuss the following questions:
1. What words, phrases, and ideas might be used to critically define rural?
2. What is your current understanding of rurality and its relationship to higher education?
3. How might you engage in critical inquiry of rural students’ experiences with education either via your current research agenda or future research?
During these small and large group discussions, participants who are not physically present will be invited to contribute via twitter and the blog space.

Recognizing the complexity of critically defining rural within the context of higher education, we perceive this symposium as a starting point for these discussions. Thus, the symposium will conclude with a group discussion of ways in which we can continue to discuss and construct notions of rurality and higher education after the symposium. Possible ideas include monthly discussions via google hangout, the continued use of the twitter hashtag and blog, and gatherings at other meetings and conferences.

Author

• Kathleen E. Gillon, Iowa State University