Mission Statement

The Center for Rural and Regional Studies (CRRS) supports Southwest Minnesota State University’s founding mission to study, represent, and serve southwestern Minnesota. The Center is committed to the study and understanding of rural and regional society.

Affirming the worth of rural and regional knowledge, the CRRS focuses on applied research. The Center's geographical scope is southwestern Minnesota, the tall grass prairie bioregion, and the central North American grassland biome.

The Center’s work encompasses environmental, ecological, demographic, geographical, social, cultural, and historical studies. Topics of special interest include the upper Midwestern agricultural economy, the region’s unique migrant streams, evolving ethnic communities, and the experiences and daily lives of its people.

The CRRS disseminates its research through the publication of books and essays on rural and regional life, through conferences (often in collaboration with other agencies and institutions), through undergraduate teaching, and through educational outreach. The Center invites cooperation with scholars and institutions whose work supplies fundamental knowledge and unique insights into the region.