Contact: Kay Jones
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Swedish attitudes and Midwestern agriculture are the very different topics of books produced recently by two Mississippi State historians.
Dennis S. Nordin, a lecturer in the history department, and history professor emeritus Roy V. Scott collaborated on "From Prairie Farmer to Entrepreneur: The Transformation of Midwestern Agriculture," which was released in March by Indiana University Press.
Nordin also is author of "A Swedish Dilemma: A Liberal European Nation's Struggle with Racism and Xenophobia, 1990-2000." The soon-to-be released work is being published by the University Press of America.
"From Prairie Farmerâ¦" examines agriculture in the Midwest during an important change in technology, management and life on the farm. The "change" involves the replacement of closely knit family farms by large corporate agricultural enterprises.
Nordin's "Swedish Dilemma" details the Northern European country's negative reactions to a growing number of minorities in its midst. The book outlines the Nordic nation's deep xenophobic roots, as well as the consequences of governmental inactivity to deal with the evolving situation.
Nordin holds a bachelor's degree from Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, and master's and doctoral degrees from Mississippi State. A faculty member for a time in the 1960s, he returned to the Starkville campus in 2001.
A member of the MSU faculty 1960-98, Scott retired as one of the elite group of Giles Distinguished Professors. He is the author, co-author or editor of numerous books on the agrarian movement, railroads and economic development, and agricultural extension.
Scott is a graduate of Iowa State University and the University of Illinois.