73rd Annual RSS Meeting
Atlanta, Georgia
August 12-15, 2010
Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel
Please click here to submit abstracts
Announcements:
Minority Scholar Travel Grants (to attend the RSS Annual Meeting)
Five Minority Scholar Travel grants of up to $500 per person will be awarded to1 ) help defray the costs of attending the annual Rural Sociological Society (RSS) meeting and 2) cover the cost of one year membership. Applicants may be either professionals or students from under-represented minority groups within RSS (i.e. African American, Asian-Americans, Latino/a, American Indian/Native American a phrase such as or other recognized minority and must be on the meeting program. Priority for awarding these competitive grants will be given to applicants who have not received travels funds in the past and who lack financial support from other sources. Applications will be reviewed by the Diversity Committee and awards will be presented to recipients upon arrival at the RSS annual meeting.
Applications are due by March 15, 2010. Applications may be submitted electronically using the Minority Scholar Travel Grant application form (below), or via fax or US Postal Service. Successful applicants will receive notification by May 15, 2010.
Send completed application via mail, fax or e-mail to:
Lori Garkovich
500 Garrigus Bldg
University of Kentucky
Lexington KY 40546-0215
lgarkov@uky.edu
859-257- 4354 (fax)
Click on the link to sign up
to become a member.
You will receive a discount on the price of the Annual Meeting, as well as all of the other benefits listed here. Click here to see pricing options.
A lobby at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia
How Flat is Rural? Diversity in the Age of Globalization
Thomas Friedman’s influential book The World is Flat makes several important points about the changing social, political, and economic conditions in the 21st century. His thesis is that the decreasing cost of global telecommunication and other communication technology has lowered the barriers to international competition. The world is becoming “flat” in the sense that distant places are becoming closely connected. Those connections link different cultures, religions, and races and ethnicities together, thus creating ever more diversity even in formerly homogenous, atomized places. The places and people who can adapt to new, ever-changing conditions will do best.
Diversity in this new, global era goes beyond race and ethnicity to include social classes, gender, and generations. While technological changes can level the playing field, the fast pace of change presents both opportunities and challenges. Having “won out” at a given point in time will not guarantee a long run of success; the constantly and rapidly changing conditions require continuous adjustment and adaptation.
The theme of the 2010 RSS meetings aims to highlight the consequences of these dynamics for rural areas by asking the question, how are rural areas positioned in this new age of globalization? I hope that the theme stimulates research that considers how rural areas can benefit from the new conditions for development. Many different perspectives can approach the theme by asking, for example:
• How do rural areas benefit from the new telecommunication technology that makes decentralization of production possible and does not require concentration of production for reaping the benefits of economies of scale?
• How diverse are rural areas? Are racial/ethnic conflicts greater or smaller in rural than in urban areas, and why?
• How can rural places and people contribute to the transformation to a green economy?
• How do major demographic trends (e.g., aging, immigration, natural increase) affect the quality of life in rural and urban areas?
• What are the consequences of the telecommunication revolution for decreasing the urban-rural differentials that exist for many socioeconomic indicators?
In sum, the theme of the meetings offers an opportunity to examine a great many aspects of rural life in the context of globalization and growing diversity. 
A suite in the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia |
Fun Things to do in Atlanta
Take a look at these websites to help you plan activities during your time in Atlanta this summer!
www.attend.atlanta.net
www.atlanta.net Will You Be Attending the 2010 RSS Annual Meeting in Atlanta this Summer? The Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel
210 Peachtree St.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
United States Map
Phone: (404) 659-1400
Go to the Hotel's beautiful website for pictures and local entertainment information.
The Westin Peachtree Plaza Atlanta is a 73-story tower, topped by the revolving Sun Dial Restaurant, which graces the heart of Atlanta and is connected to AmericasMart. The Westin is steps from CNN, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia World Congress Center, and the Georgia Dome.
For lunch or dinner, take the hotel's glass elevators up 73 stories to the Sun Dial, a revolving restaurant known for its delicious cuisine and heavenly views of Atlanta. There are 53 breakouts, totaling 80,000 square feet, to provide unparalleled flexibility in planning your meetings. When business is done, relax in the retractable-roof pool or health club.
Renowned Atlanta architect John Portman designed the hotel, the Western Hemisphere's largest. All 1,068 rooms feature floor-to-ceiling glass windows, desks, high-speed Internet access, laptop safes, and Westin Heavenly® Beds and marble Heavenly Baths®.
Property Information by Travelocity and Yahoo!
The Sun Dial Resturant at the top of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia |
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