A version of this story first appeared in Mile Markers, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural ...

On a Friday morning in June, my family and I observed a common American ritual: cruising around neighborhoods and downtowns, seeking bargains at nearby ...

Alien movies have endured as a popular way to explore our anxieties about the unknown. But why do so many take place in rural America and what are they representing when they do?