{"id":190,"date":"2021-01-25T14:20:15","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T19:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/stormlake\/?p=190"},"modified":"2021-01-25T14:20:15","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T19:20:15","slug":"off-to-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/stormlake\/2021\/01\/off-to-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to class…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The books have been chosen, the interviews scheduled, and the syllabus finalized. A half hour from now, my class will embark on an investigation into Storm Lake history, and I\u2019m betting\u2014hoping\u2014the students will be as amazed, challenged, and invigorated about the region\u2019s past as I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our books will include Art Cullen\u2019s recent Storm Lake<\/em>, of course, and additional studies will provide students with broader historical context. We will read Dr. Timothy Pachirat\u2019s Every Twelve Seconds<\/em> to understand the meatpacking industry and its relationship to agriculture and the environment, as well as how the industry distances the violence of production from consumers. Dr. Pachirat received his Ph.D. at Yale and worked undercover at a processing plant in the Midwest as part of his dissertation research. He will join our class via Zoom in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students will also encounter Dr. Robert Withnow\u2019s The Left Behind<\/em>, on urban\/rural divides and the politics of resentment, as well as an edited volume from Drs. Donald Stull, Michael Broadway, and David Griffith, Any Way You Cut It: Meat Processing and Small-Town America<\/em>. Among the many contributions in the latter book is a chapter explaining\u2014from an industry perspective\u2014the small margins of error, and tight labor-profit constraints, that confront meatpacking management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to these works, we will also read some articles by Dr. Mark Grey, a professor anthropology at the University of Northern Iowa, who has written on immigration in Iowa (and specifically Storm Lake). He will join us for a conversation in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond these readings and others, the majority of our class\nwill be spent analyzing news from Storm Lake papers, and interviewing Storm\nLakers via Zoom from afar. At present we have 15 interviewees set for group\ndiscussions, another 15 for individual conversations, and 15-30 additional folks\nfor oral history interviews. More on these as they develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most exciting components of the class relates to\nour partnering with four entities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n