WELCOME
Our Mission
The mission of the Department of Community and Rural Sociology is to create and disseminate knowledge that will assist individuals, families, and communities to actively participate in societal change while guiding their own development.
Our Vision
As social scientists who study connections among social relations, institutions, and natural resource production and consumption systems, Community and Rural Sociology faculty bring needed insights and perspectives in the area of Human Dimensions of Sustainability. These insights contribute to WSU interdisciplinary teams as well as to state, regional, national, and international partners. Our departmental research, outreach, and teaching focuses on the role of humans in shaping social, environmental, and economic sustainability for communities in Washington and around the world.
Our Primary Research, Outreach, & Teaching Areas
are in Sustainable Community Development and Agriculture, Food, and Environment.
Our Role in Undergraduate & Graduate Education
The Department of Community and Rural Sociology offers classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In partnership with other WSU departments and programs, the Department of Community and Rural Sociology offers a Minor in Community Studies, which provides undergraduate students with the necessary knowledge and skills to become informed and engaged community citizens. The department also participates in the Agricultural and Food Systems degree program.
Department faculty also actively participate in graduate education through the mentoring of graduate students at the Masters and Ph.D. levels from a diversity of disciplines. The department also offers the Smick Scholarship on an annual basis to qualified undergraduate and graduate students with interests in rural community service and development.
News & Events
CRS Classes Host "Year of Plenty" Family
José García-Pabón: Outreach to Hispanic/Latino Population
Marcy Ostrom receives NASULGC's 2007 Western Region Excellence in Extension Award
Annabel Kirschner elected vice-president of RSS
Jessica Goldberger in the News:
Examining gender and diversity in sharing ag knowledge (WSU Today)
Sharing knowledge: The exchange of ideas (Lewiston Tribune )
Family Farming & Ranching in Washington: Research Results
Wheat Production in WA: Survey Summary Report
Don Dillman awarded 26th Annual Helen Dinerman Award
Washington Counts: Growth and Change in WA State's Hispanic Population
Agriculture in WA State: Food Consumption Attitudes and Behaviors in Four WA Counties