National Rural Studies Committee (U.S.)

Established in 1987 with a 5-year grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the National Rural Studies Committee (NRSC) was led by Oregon State University faculty member Emery N. Castle as a part of the Western Rural Development Center at OSU. The NRSC was charged to encourage scholarship nationwide on topics relating to rural development. Subsequent grants were received from the Kellogg Foundation in 1991 and 1995 to continue the Committee's work. Among the impacts made by the NRSC include the establishment of multidisciplinary graduate degree programs in rural studies, publication of a directory of rural studies scholars, and stimulating the creation of the National Rural Poverty Task Force. A final report of the Committee's work was prepared and submitted in 1997.