Encouraging members of the public to get engaged in local decision-making is a key role of Extension educators. The study reported here explores whether local context influences which individuals choose to attend public meetings about the community and the environment. The study surveyed meeting attendees and non-meeting attendees in three…

This article explores the connections between literacy, economy, and place through an examination of labor market intermediaries (LMIs). In particular, the article addresses the shifting role of LMIs over the past thirty years in Lake County, Indiana, and how they have developed as literacy sponsors. The article looks beyond the boundaries of…

Sociologists have documented how important place is in people's lives. C. Wright Mills (1959) argued that people must understand that they do not exist in a vacuum, but that their values, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by the particular time and place in which they themselves exist. The development of this "sociological…