Inside the Business Office
Dear RSS Community,
The RSS Business Office is pleased to share an exciting opportunity for this giving season—your generosity can have double the impact for the Rural Sociological Society!
We are announcing a special matching challenge: an RSS member has generously pledged to match all donations made, up to a total of $5,000.
How does the matching program work? When you make any donation through the RSS website here, your contribution will be matched dollar for dollar. This means every dollar you give goes twice as far, thanks to our matching contributor.
The program is now open and runs through December 31st. Donations can be made easily on the RSS website. Should you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to the RSS Business Office at the attention of Ashley Smedley: asmedley@ruralsociology.org.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, RSS ensures that your contribution is eligible for tax deduction. Your tax-deductible support helps RSS remain financially strong and continue our outreach and services to members.
Thank you for your continued support of RSS and for helping to strengthen our community.
Warm regards,
Suzanne Bevan
Executive Director
sbevan@ruralsociology.org
Ashley Smedley
Account Representative
asmedley@ruralsociology.org
Announcements
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Discover RSS on LinkedIn!
Follow the Rural Sociological Society to connect with peers, explore rural research, and stay updated on events and opportunities.
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“Rural Justice”
Join Us for the 2026 Annual Meeting!
Mark your calendars for
July 30 – August 2, 2026 in Raleigh, NC.
This year’s theme, “Rural Justice,” invites us to explore fairness and equity across food, environment, energy, migration, and community life. Don’t miss this chance to be part of the conversation shaping the future of rural communities.
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Annual Meeting Plenary Speakers
Lauren Sudeall of Vanderbilt University, the David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair of Law and Director, Vanderbilt Access to Justice (AtJ) Initiative, will give the plenary address on Thursday, July 30.
Prof. Sudeall’s work focuses on access to courts, both civil and criminal, rural and urban, and how lower-income individuals engage with the legal system—with or without a lawyer.
A second plenary will address the rural vote. That plenary panel will be anchored by Nicholas Jacobs, Goldfarb Family Distinguished Chair in American Government at Colby College where he is also the Inaugural Director of the Public Policy Lab.
Prof. Jacobs, who is the co-author of The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America (2023), will be joined by rural organizer extraordinaire, George Goehl and several North Carolina politicians.
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Submit An Abstract
Presenting at the RSS Annual Meeting is a valuable opportunity to share your work, receive feedback, and connect with a vibrant community of rural sociologists and allies.
Abstract Submissions Open: December 15, 2025
Abstract Submissions Close: February 15, 2026
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Call for Submissions
Conference and Special Issue of The Milbank Quarterly
“How Policy Contexts Impact Population Health in the United States”
The Center for Aging and Policy Studies (CAPS) and the Center for Policy Research (CPR) will host a conference on June 8 and 9, 2026 at Syracuse University to advance knowledge on the connections between policies and population health in a changing U.S. context. In conjunction with the CAPS-CPR conference, The Milbank Quarterly will publish a special issue in 2027. The conference and special issue seek empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions on the topic. Of particular interest are papers that link changes and variation in policy contexts to health outcomes, identify mechanisms linking policies to outcomes, or propose new ways to measure and conceptualize policy contexts for health research. Authors intending to submit a paper to The Milbank Quarterly special issue are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract of the paper by January 15, 2026 for presentation at the CAPS-CPR conference to be held June 8-9, 2026 at Syracuse University. Up to 15 papers will be selected for the conference. The goal of the conference is to significantly strengthen each paper before its submission to the special issue. The first author of each paper will be a 2026 CAPS-CPR Conference Fellow and will receive (1) reimbursement of travel expenses up to $1500, (2) feedback and suggestions from an assigned discussant and other conference fellows, and (3) a detailed written review by a guest editor of the special issue (Pinka Chatterji, Shannon M. Monnat, and Jennifer Karas Montez). Presentation at the conference is not a requirement for submitting a paper to the special issue.
Application instructions and more information can be found below:
RSS Annual Meeting
July 30 - Aug 2, 2026
Raleigh, North Carolina
Job Postings
Rural Health Expert
Washington University in St. Louis
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Tenure-Track Sociologist
Auburn University
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The Duke of Northumberland International Visiting Research Fellow
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Assistant Professor
Auburn University
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Assistant Professor of Sociology
University of Maine
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