Extension Education and the Social Sciences

The Cooperative Extension System serves as the conduit through which scientific knowledge generated by the 130 land-grant colleges and universities in the United States is translated and delivered directly to its constituents. Since its inception over 100 years ago, Extension has been integral in developing, delivering, and applying cutting-edge knowledge in agriculture and natural resources, youth development, family and consumer sciences, and community and rural development. Today, more than ever, Extension will need to lead the way in building and maintaining sustainable partnerships across disciplines and with organizations at the local, state, and national levels to tackle complex issues considering diminishing resources. Bringing together leading and emerging scholars, this volume discusses how Extension is addressing issues and opportunities relevant to children, youth, families, and communities across the country both now and in the future. Topics include Extension's role in supporting childcare, social media use, entrepreneurship, rural communities, and underserved audiences.

Part I. Overview of Extension and the Social Sciences: 1. Introduction: the role of extension education in supporting children, youth, families, and communities Maria Rosario T. de Guzman and Holly Hatton-Bowers; 2. Engaged scholarship: navigating the role of research in extension using a relationship education case example J. Kale Monk; 3. Extension's role in promoting resilience among rural families with low-income Yoshie Sano, Ann A. Berry and Christopher T. Sneed; 4. Extension programming to enhance urban well-being Julie Fox; Part II. Addressing Key Issues in the Wellbeing of Children, Youth and Families: 5. Extension's role in supporting young children's well-being Constance C. Beecher and Teresa A. Byington; 6. Supporting youth through family engagement: opportunities for extension Jodi Dworkin; 7. The application of social science in 4-h youth development Theresa M. Ferrari and Mary E. Arnold; 8. Leveraging community and extension connections to support food, nutrition, and health programming Lisa Franzen-Castle, Michelle Krehbiel and Jean Ann Fischer; 9. Youth entrepreneurship education in extension: on applying lessons from the social sciences Surin Kim, Maria Rosario T. de Guzman, Claire Nicholas, Yunqi Wang, Irene Padasas and Olivia Kennedy; Part III. Looking Ahead: Emerging Issues and Trends: 10. Cooperative extension and diversity: supporting children, youth, and families amidst demographic and social change Kieu Anh Do and Virginie Zoumenou; 11. Reaching and serving underrepresented families: the necessity of engaging fathers in Extension programming Kerrie Fanning, Jiwon Yoon, and Margaret L. Kerr; 12. Training the next generation of extension professionals Joseph L. Donaldson; 13. Extending Extension's Outreach and Engagement with Social Media: A Case Study with an Integrated Media Campaign  Jemalyn Griffin and Holly Hatton-Bowers.