Explorations of Rural Experience: Fostering Narrative Imagination and Civic Curiosity

FAIN: AKB-291086-23

Juniata College (Huntingdon, PA 16652-2119)
Amanda M. Page (Project Director: September 2022 to present)
Territa Poole (Co Project Director: May 2023 to present)

a three-year project to establish a new minor focused on rural experience, including experiential learning opportunities in Pennsylvania and Alabama

Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA will implement the Explorations of Rural Experience: Fostering Narrative Imagination and Civic Curiosity minor. Grounded in Juniata’s local rural community, the minor will provide faculty with the opportunity to use interdisciplinary approaches to teach students how to tackle complex problems, such as rural poverty, in a way that blends the humanities emphasis on narrative, historical context, and story-telling with social science data-driven methods. We will create a space for faculty to collaborate on interdisciplinary curriculum development; support professional development; institutionalize experiential learning opportunities in Pennsylvania and in study away through partnerships in Alabama; launch core courses and electives for the minor; establish the Rural Community Reading Group; mount a symposium on the topic of rural poverty; create a digital humanities hub as a repository for student research projects; and establish a research assistantship.