Thiel College hosting historian to discuss his research on rural and small-town politics

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Keith Orejel, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History at Wilmington College, will discuss his ongoing research into rural and small-town politics in Stamm Hall in the James Pedas Communication Center at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12.

Orejel attended the University of California, Berkeley as an undergraduate before going on to complete an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He specializes in 20th-century United States political history, with particular emphasis on the economic and political transformations of rural and small-town America following World War II. At Wilmington College, he teaches courses in American history and is developing new offerings on topics such as American agricultural history and the political dynamics of the postwar era.

“Dr. Orejel’s research speaks directly to questions that continue to shape political life in rural and small-town America,” said Jay Donis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Thiel College. “His work helps students and community members better understand how economic change, public policy, and local political cultures evolved in the postwar period—and why those developments still matter today.”

Among his published works is the peer-reviewed article “The Origins of the Iowa Development Commission: Agricultural Transformation and Industrial Development in Mid-Twentieth Century Iowa,” which appeared in The Annals of Iowa. He is working on a book project that examines rural and small-town politics after World War II. He has presented his scholarship at a number of national conferences, including the Business History Conference and the Policy History Conference, and published numerous articles in academic journals and online history forums. 

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