RHI will be of interest to a broad range of practitioners, scholars, community members, and under/graduate students who share an interest in exploring the intersections of nature and culture in the rural Northeast – and, most importantly, are passionate about solidifying the connections between community, academic scholarship, and meaningful work in the field. RHI is affiliated with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment’s (ASLE) biennial regional symposium series.

The Institute capitalizes on the integrative model of community learning and experiential academics by our host venue. Sterling College, located only 30 miles from the Canadian border in the heart of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, is an ideal place in which to explore interwoven threads of place, culture, and community in the fabric of the region’s agricultural and land-use heritage. A natural extension of Sterling College’s forestry, draft horse, and sustainable agriculture programs – as well as its integrative community-based curriculum – RHI will serve as the base for a cross-disciplinary exploration of rural heritage in Vermont and across northern New England.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Developing Digital Communities
Technology and Rural Heritage
Storytelling and Oral History
Sustainable Agriculture
Livestock and Draft Animals in Cultural Context
Theory and Practice of the Mixed Power Model
Farmstead and Folk Arts
The Rural Artisan
Sustainable Resource Management
Mutualism and Rural Economy
Regrounding Sustainability
Globalization and Glocalism
Bioregionalism
Rural Historiography
Agrarianism
Cottage Industries
Traditional Music and Dance
Community-Based Food Systems

Preference will be given to presentations, panels, workshops, and roundtables that use an interdisciplinary approach to engage their issues. Please email 1-page proposals to Pavel Cenkl (pcenkl@sterlingcollege.edu) by February 22nd, 2008.