Cooperative Economics, Thought, and Rural Leadership Courses
The Cooperative Economics, Thought, and Rural Leadership curriculum puts culture at the center of agriculture. Through courses, workshops, and field days, participants learn to use Wendell Berry’s writing to advocate for healthy land and communities; understand their places in agricultural history; determine affordable, farm-based solutions; cultivate an agricultural economy of cooperation, parity, and democracy; and practice neighborly leadership.
Reading in Place: “Conservation Is Good Work”
An Earth Day Celebration
from Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community available at The Bookstore at The Berry Center
Registration is open!
April 22, 2025
5:00-6:30pm
* bonus: 4:00pm optional TBC Farm walk
$25 for Members of The Berry Center
$50 Become a Member of The Berry Center *
Registration Includes:
Electronic copy of “Conservation Is Good Work,” to be read prior to the class session
Electronic copy of reading guide to be used before, during, or after class
Light refreshments at the event
*Become a member: Includes the course cost as well as our annual print journal, seasonal electronic newsletters, 10% discount at The Berry Center Bookstore, and important event information. Once you register, you’ll receive confirmation and further instructions on payment.
Course Description
Celebrate Earth Day on the page and in the field with The Berry Center. The Farm and Forest Institute will launch its Reading in Place series on Tuesday, April 22 with a study of Wendell Berry’s essay “Conservation Is Good Work.” This short course focuses on Berry’s declaration: “The name of our proper connection to the earth is ‘good work,’ for good work involves much giving of honor.” We’ll consider what constitutes good work and draw lessons from The Berry Center’s efforts to conserve health by connecting people, land, and community.
Participants have two opportunities to engage. For those who can attend in-person, Dr. Leah Bayens will begin the session with an optional farm walk on TBC’s working livestock farm and forest in Port Royal, Kentucky. This group will then engage in discussion with participants joining by Zoom.
In-person capacity: 10 participants
Zoom capacity: 15 participants
Independent study capacity: unlimited (Can’t attend but want to receive the course materials and study on your own? Enroll as an independent study participant.)
Schedule
3:45pm Check-in for optional walk
4:00-5:00pm TBC Farm & Forest walk (optional)
5:00 - 6:30pm Group discussion at farmhouse (in-person) or Zoom
Reading in Place: Wendell Berry’s Jaybor Crow Short Course
“This is a book about Heaven, but I must say too that . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell.”
Registration is open!
Friday, May 9 & Saturday, May 10, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Cost $100
Limit 15 participants
What’s your favorite Wendell Berry novel? Over and again, people respond: Jayber Crow. Celebrate the 25th anniversary of this moving story with a two-day short course and field retreat in Henry County, Kentucky. Guided by Farm & Forest Institute Director Leah Bayens, you’ll traipse through field and forest, town and country, connecting to the places represented in the novel and contemplating how lived experiences and stories kindle affection for people, land and community. In this “Reading in Place” study, participants will receive a reading guide filled with discussion questions, supplemental resources (maps, articles, images, et al.), and hands-on exercises–to be used while reading at home and while at The Berry Center Farm, exploring the landscapes captured in Jayber Crow.
Follow the barber’s full circle life on and above the banks of the river–from his earliest memories as an orphaned boy to his spiritual coming-of-age and then on to his Port Royal homecoming and membership. Like the neighbors whose hair he trims, Jayber struggles and grieves; he rejoices and loves. Yet he finds himself simultaneously within and outside their lives, bearing witness to the tragedy of industrialism in farming. Although Jayber does not farm, he is the consummate agrarian. He is a person capable of fitting his mind to the land. He is not the man born to farming, but he is a piece of the fabric that supports the farmers–all from the perch of a hand-me-down barber chair, from the heights of the secret “Grandstand” gathering spot, and from a long-legged river camp house, quietly snipping hair.
Format: in-person only, combination of field excursions and discussion.
Awareness of physical demands of this course: Please be aware that participants may at times be walking up to ½ mile on uneven terrain during this course.The class will engage in field-based experiences regardless of the weather, though alternate plans will be made in response to extreme weather events.
Agrarian Voices Study
Summer 2025 Registration now open!
What Has Happened Here: Agricultural History | The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture
Full Course Description with schedule linked below
June 5 - June 26
Cost: $150
Limit 20 participants. Reduced-rate scholarships are available for farmers and residents of Henry County.
The Farm and Forest Institute offers 3 Agrarian Voices Study courses per year. These classes combine Wendell Berry’s writing and The Berry Center’s mission with agricultural literature, practical examples, and lectures. The courses provide resources for in-depth study of topics introduced in The Berry Center’s Agrarian Voices Distinguished Lecture Series. This humanities-based series features Kentuckians of notable imagination and understanding of farming, rural life, agricultural economics, and agrarian thought and history.
The Agrarian Voices Study classes combine the tradition of study clubs and Chautauqua lectures. Historically, these programs cultivated civic engagement and community cohesion through intellectual, artistic, and practical pursuits—all vital for establishing and strengthening cultural foundations of democracy.
Our agrarian study club provides unique access to The Berry Center’s resources and an opportunity to contribute to our mission: advocating for farmers, land-conserving communities, and healthy regional economies.
Winter/Spring Writing for the Farm: Advocacy & Leadership
Summer What Has Happened Here: Agricultural History
Fall Readings in Agriculture: An Agrarian Literature Survey
Participants may register for any of the 3 study sessions offered throughout the year.
Each Agrarian Voices Study consists of:
Access to a Collection of Resources
Readings, prompts for reflection and place-based exercises, & additional materials for extended study
Agrarian Voices Lectures by Kentucky Writers, Farmers, & Leaders
These public lectures enrich the study of farming, rural life, agricultural economics, and agrarian thought and history. Lectures are recorded and shared at a later date for those who cannot attend.
Group Discussion Opportunities
Gather with fellow participants to reflect on readings, exercises, thoughts, and ideas. A Zoom link is available for those who cannot attend in-person discussions.
A Humanities Field Day (in-person only)
Participants complete the majority of the self-paced coursework at home, on their own time. They expand their learning in Henry County, Kentucky, through group discussions, lectures, and a humanities field day guided by The Berry Center staff. To provide access to the most people, the classes do not bear academic credit, but the materials are as robust, rigorous, and captivating as you would find in most college and continuing education courses. This community education program is open to all– from urban to rural and from those who farm to people who support farmers.
The Berry Center’s Farm and Forest Institute courses are made possible through a combination of registration fees and generous support from the NoVo Foundation. Thanks to this funding, the Institute provides educational opportunities for a range of farming and farm-supporting constituencies. The Agrarian Voices Distinguished Lecture Series is sponsored by The Josephine Ardery Foundation and by a host of generous donors.
Write Your Rural Story: A Memoir Workshop with Georgia Green Stamper
This 2-day workshop was designed for those who are beginning to collect and write their personal stories of family and rural places. Georgia Green Stamper led the sessions at The Berry Center’s Agrarian Cultural Center. Participants had the option to submit their final pieces for inclusion in The Berry Center Archive and for possible publication in our newsletters.
Henry Countian Darlene Hawkins Tipton enrolled in the 2024 rural memoir class led by Owen County’s Georgia Green Stamper. Darlene had the farming stories in her head, but she says, “The class gave me the courage to write my stories.” Her account reminds us that “every leaf mattered in tobacco.” Quality mattered then, and it matters now. This is a central value driving The Berry Center’s mission.
2024 Memoir Workshop Participant Essay, by Darlene Hawkins Tipton