Nancy Berlage, Professor of History at Texas State University

An interview with Dr. Nancy Berlage, professor of History at Texas State University. Her research and teaching interests include public history, the American political culture, and rural culture. Dr. Berlage discusses her most recent work, Farmers Helping Farmers The Rise of the Farm and Home Bureaus was published by Louisiana State University Press in July 2016. Berlage explores how bureaus (more specifically the American Farm Bureau) served as the locus of science-based agriculture for rural communities. Drawing on community bonds and culturally powerful metaphors to overcome skepticism, bureaus played a critical role in circulating knowledge grounded in the new disciplines of agricultural economics, rural sociology, home economics, veterinary medicine, child science, and public health.