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Rural Sociology has traditionally been defined as the study of social organization and social processes that are characteristic of geographical zones where population sizes and densities are relatively low. Thus, rural sociology can be defined as the sociological study of rural societies. In practice, however, modern rural sociology has had to become considerably more comprehensive than the study of the social structures and processes of rural societies. Rural societies do not exist in isolation or a social vacuum. The "rural" is, in part, a reflection of the larger processes of the regional differentiation and allocation of populations, economic activities, and other human activities within a society as a whole (or, increasingly, within the global economy and society). Science and technology are particularly good examples of social forces that have metropolitan origins (e.g. in the laboratories of land-grant universities, ARS stations, and agribusiness firms) and that in turn have major impacts on rural people, communities, and regions. [Encyclopedia of Agricultural Science Vol. 3, 1994] The Rural Sociology Program at the University of Kentucky maintains active research, graduate and undergraduate instruction, and extension programming in three specialities: Community, Agriculture, and Social Change. For more information on this program see the Department of Rural Sociology homepage.
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