EDUCATION:
1995  Ph.D. Rural Sociology, Department of Rural Sociology, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural
          Resources, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211.
          Dissertation: Community and Collective: Interpersonal Ties in Three Russian Villages.
          Chair: Dr. David J. O’Brien
1990  M.S. Community Development, minor in International Development, University of Missouri-Columbia,
          College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Columbia, MO 65211.
          Thesis: The Relationship Between Community Participation and Learning.
1988  B.A. Biblical Literature, Ozark Christian College, Joplin, MO 64801.

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:

GRANTS:

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
1994 - Present:    Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Rural Sociology, University of Missouri- Columbia, on, "Social Capital, Social Networks, and Adaptation to Change in Rural Russian Villages," supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant #4409936).

1990- 1994:     Research Assistant, Department of Rural Sociology, University of Missouri-Columbia. Conducted
research in the following projects: 1) "Changes in Rural Life: A Comparative Study of Russia-USA," 2) "Availability, Access and Utilization of Public Services in Rural Areas," 3) "Comparative Study of Rural Service Delivery in Russia and U.S.," and 4) "Missouri Rural Community Viability Leadership Study."

1988- 1989:    Research Assistant, Department of Community Development, University of Missouri-Columbia.
 Responsibilities: data management, data analysis, development of case study guide, editing and computer file management.

1983- 1986:    Rural Community Development Worker, U.S. Peace Corps, Solomon Islands.  U.S. Peace Corps,
 Honiara, Solomon Islands. Advisor to the Veru-Moli Community Development Committee. Provided assistance to village chiefs and area leaders in development priorities within customary guidelines and local resources, designed and implemented adult education programs, assisted the Solomon Island Cultural Center with cultural preservation projects which involved photo-documenting, recording, transcribing and translation of oral history. Spoke Bislama Pidgin-English, Foreign Service Language rating of 3+ on a scale of 5.

CONSULTANCIES:
 RUSSIA:
1991-Present:   Institute for Socioeconomic Studies of Populations (ISESP), Russian Academy of Sciences,
Moscow, Russia. Teach courses in research theory, techniques of survey research, and use of desktop computers for data management and analysis.

May-Aug 1997:     Civic Initiatives Program for democratic and economic reform in Russia, Save the Children,
 Moscow, Russia. Coordinator and Chief Methodologist of a rapid appraisal to assess the “Needs and Capacities of the Third Sector in Eight Oblasts of Central Russia.”

Aug .  1997:    Civic Initiatives Program for democratic and economic reform in Russia, Save the Children,
 Moscow, Russia. Training of NonGovernmental Organization Resource Center staff in southern Russia (Krasnodar) and Siberia (Novisibirsk) in the theoretical and practical approaches to rapid appraisal.

 ARMENIA:
Dec.-Feb. 1997-98:    Community Development Program, Save the Children-USA, Armenia.
 Coordinator and Chief Methodologist of a national team to evaluate the Community Development  Program in Armenia.

Aug-Sept.1996:     Community Development Program, Save the Children-USA, Armenia.
 Evaluation Methodologist who worked with local CD staff to develop an evaluation tool to be used to assess community development micro-projects throughout Armenia.

 GEORGIA:
Jan-June  1996:    United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA), European Community
 Humanitarian Office (ECHO), and Save the Children-USA, (SCF-USA), Georgia. Team leader of an interdisciplinary, multi-national team to develop and conduct a country-wide assessment to identify beneficiaries of humanitarian aid in the areas of food, nutrition, medicine, and shelter. Report produced, "Food, Nutrition, Medical, and Nonfood Vulnerability in Georgia, 1996: A Household Assessment."

 USA:
1994 Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Washington, D.C.. Survey development, interviewer training, data entry, data analysis, and co-author of final report for, "Impact of the 1993 Floods on Drug & Alcohol Use, Mental Health, Personal and Social Networks, and Quality of Life in Two Rural Missouri Communities.”

1993 Cochran Fellowship (USA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Almata, Kazakhstan and Dr. Tatiana Koroleva, Agricultural Institute, Akmola, Kazakhstan. Taught social survey principles, design, analysis, and management of survey data.

1993 Iowa State University Extension. Designed and implemented an evaluation of the "Left Behind in the 90's," a mental health training program for rural community and social service professionals.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
1992-1993 Rural Sociology 1, Department of Rural Sociology, University of Missouri.
1991-1994 Research methods, survey design, data coding, and data analysis at;
  1) Institute for Socioeconomic Studies of Populations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
  2) Representatives of the Agricultural Institute, Akmola, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Almata, Kazakhstan.
 
AWARDS:

MEMBERSHIPS:
American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies
International Network for Social Network Analysis
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

WORKING PAPERS:
Dershem, Larry, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, and David J. O'Brien. 1996. From Proletariat Socialism to Household
    Survivalism in Rural Russia. UMC-ISESP Working Paper. 
Dershem, Larry D. with Valeri Patsiorkovski  and David J. O'Brien. 1994. Some Issues Related to Understanding
    Rurality and Research in Russia. ISESP-UMC working paper .
Dershem Larry. General Characteristic and Subgroup Differences of Discussion Networks in Three Russian
    Villages.

(CO)AUTHORED BOOK, PAPERS & PUBLICATIONS:
Dershem, Larry D. and David Gzirishvili M.D., 1998, “Informal Social Support Networks and Household
    Vulnerability: Empirical Findings from Georgia.” World Development Vol. 26, No. 10.
Dershem, Larry and Valeri Patsiorkovski. 1997. The Needs and Capacities of the Third Sector in Eight Oblasts of
    Central Russia. Report to Save the Children Federation, Moscow, Russia.
Dershem, Larry D. 1997. "Prevalence, Sources, and Types of Informal Support in Latonovo and Mayaki." Pg.
    163-198 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data From 1991 and 1993
    Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem, Alessandro Bonanno, and
    Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
Dershem, Larry D., David J. O’Brien and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski. 1997. "Research Design for the Joint
    Russian-American Rural Services Project: Background to the 1991 and 1993 Surveys." Pg. 53-71 in Services
    and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data From 1991 and 1993 Surveys. Edited by
    David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem, Alessandro Bonanno, and Charles Timberlake.
    University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, 1997, “A Demographic Profile of the Villages in
    the Study,” Pg. 73-84 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data From
    1991 and 1993 Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem, Alessandro
    Bonanno, and Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, 1997, “Inequalities in the Villages Prior to the
    Soviet Period,” Pg. 87-15 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data
    From 1991 and 1993 Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem, Alessandro
    Bonanno, and Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, 1997, “Village Retail Trade Services in 1991 and
    1993,” Pg. 115-131 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data From 1991
    and 1993 Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem, Alessandro Bonanno,
    and Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, 1997, “Aavailability, Quality, Access &
    Utilization of Public Services in the Villages,” Pg. 133-146 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the
    Former Soviet Union: Data From 1991 and 1993 Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry
    D. Dershem, Alessandro Bonanno, and Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, 1997, “Availability, Qualtiy, Access & Utilization
    of Health Care Services,” Pg. 147-160 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet
    Union: Data From 1991 and 1993 Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem,
    Alessandro Bonanno, and Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, 1997, “Subjective Quality of Life and Mental
    Health,” Pg. 199-219 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data From
    1991 and 1993 Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem, Alessandro
    Bonanno, and Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, and Larry D. Dershem. 1997, “The Future of Services & Quality of Life
    in Rural Russia,” Pg. 243-250 in Services and Quality of Life in Rural Villages in the Former Soviet Union: Data
    From 1991 and 1993 Surveys. Edited by David O'Brien, Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem, Alessandro
    Bonanno, and Charles Timberlake. University Press of America: New York.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem and Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, 1997, “The Transition to the Market Economy in
    Rural Russia: Assertions and Findings,” East European Countryside, 3, pg.75-90.
O'Brien, David J., Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem and Oksana Lylova. 1997. "Household Production
    and Symptoms of Stress in Post-Soviet Russia." Rural Sociology, Vol. 61. No.4: 674-698.
O'Brien, David J., Valeri V. Patsiorkovski and Larry D. Dershem. 1997. “Rural Responses to Land Reform in
    Russia: An Analysis of Household Land Use in Belgorod, Rostov, and Tver’ Oblasts from 1991-1996."
    Comparative Land Reform in the Former Soviet Union and Central Europe. Edited by Stephen Wegren,
    Routledge Press.
Dershem, Larry, Valeri Patsiorkovski, and David J. O'Brien. 1996. "The Use of the CES-D for Measuring
    Symptoms of Depression in Three Russian Villages." Social Indicators Research, Vol 39:89-108 .
O'Brien, David J.,Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem and Oksana Lylova. 1996. "Social Capital and
    Adaptation to Social Change in Russian Villages." Studies in Public Policy, Centre for the Study of Public
    Policy, #263, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
Dershem, Larry, David Gzirishivili M.D., Anna deRoos MSc., and Dineke Vanekamp M.D.1996. "Food, Nutrition,
    Medical, and Nonfood Vulnerability in Georgia, 1996: A Household Assessment."  Report to the United
    Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs Office, the European Community Humanitarian Office, and Save
    the Children's office in Tbilisi, Georgia.
O'Brien, David J., Edward W. Hassinger, and Larry D. Dershem. 1996 "Size of Place, Residential Stability, and
    Personal Networks," Sociological Focus Vol. 29, No.1:61-72.
O'Brien, David J., Larry D. Dershem, Rita Fleischmann, and Andrew Raedeke. 1995. "Impact of the 1993 Floods on
    Drug & Alcohol Use, Mental Health, Personal and Social Networks, and Quality of Life in Two Rural Missouri
    Communities." Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Missouri Department of Mental Health.
O'Brien, David J., Edward W. Hassinger and Larry D. Dershem. 1994. "Community Attachment and Depression
    Among Residents in Two Rural Midwestern Communities." Rural Sociology 59 (2):255-265.
O'Brien, David J., Valery V. Patsiorkovski, Inna Korkhova and Larry D. Dershem. 1993. "The Future of the Village
    in a Restructured Food and Agricultural Sector in the Former Soviet Union". Agriculture and Human Values
    Vol.X, No.1 (Winter):11-20.
Lackey, Alvin and Larry D. Dershem. "Process as Pedagogy: What Community Participation Teaches."
    Community Development Journal Vol.27, No.3 (July):220-234.
 
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
Dershem, Larry. 1998. Social Capital and Mental Health: Personal Networks and Symptoms of Depression in Rural
    Russia. Symposium on Social Capital in Rural Russia sponsored by the Kennan Institute for Advanced
    Russian Studies and the University of Missouri, May 11-13.
Dershem, Larry, 1997. “Changes in Rural Russian Personal Support Networks, 1995-1997.” Presented at the
    American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies 29th National Convention, November 21-24,
    Seattle, Washington.
Dershem, Larry. 1996. "Russian Rural Life in Transition, 1991-1997: Integration of Statistical Analysis and Video
    Documentation." Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies 28th National
    Convention, November 14-17, Boston, MA.
Dershem, Larry. 1996. Results from a 1996 Vulnerability Assessment in the Republic of Georgia: Food and
    Nonfood Issues. Presented at Central Slavic Conference, October 3-5, University of  Missouri-Columbia.
Dershem, Larry. 1995. The Prevalence and Sources of Informal Support in Two Villages in the Former Soviet
    Union. Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of  Slavic Studies 27th National
    Convention, October 24-26, Washington, D.C.
Dershem, Larry. 1994. The Community/Collective Question. Presented at the Social Science Research Council's
    Fourth Annual Summer Workshop in Underrepresented Fields in the Study of the Former Soviet Union:
    Sociology and Anthropology, June 19-25, University of Michigan.
Dershem, Larry. 1994. Community and Collective. 11th Annual Research & Creative Activities Forum. March 5th.
    University of Missouri, Columbia.
Dershem, Larry, David J. O'Brien and V.V. Patsiorkovski. 1994. "Symptoms and Correlates of Depression in
    Russian and American Rural Villages."  Fifth International Conference on Social Stress. Honolulu, Hawaii, May
    25-27.
O'Brien, David J., Valeri V. Patsiorkovski, Larry D. Dershem and Andrei Kusnetsov. 1993. "Privatization of
    Services and Social Change in Rural Areas of the Former Soviet Union." Presented at the annual meetings of
    the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Boston. February 11-16.
O'Brien, David J., Edward W. Hassinger and Larry D. Dershem. 1992. "Social Integration, Depression and Quality
    of Life in a More or Less Viable Rural Community." National Association for Rural Mental Health Annual
    Conference, June 21-25, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina.
O'Brien, David J., Edward W. Hassinger and Larry D. Dershem. 1992. "Size of Place and Regional Differences in
    Personal Social Networks". Presented at the Annual Rural Sociological Society meeting, Aug. 16-19,
    Pennsylvania State University.
O'Brien, David J., Edward W. Hassinger and Larry D. Dershem. 1992. The Social Networks of Rural Residents.
    Presented at Annual Rural Sociological Society meeting.
O'Brien, David J., Edward W. Hassinger and Larry D. Dershem. 1991. The Density of Social Network Ties
    Between  Leaders in More and Less Viable Rural Communities. Prepared for Midwest Sociological Society,
    DesMoines, Iowa.
O'Brien, David J., Valery V. Patsiorkovski, Inna Korkhova and Larry D. Dershem. 1991. The Future of the Village
    in a Restructured Food and Agricultural Sector in the Former Soviet Union. Presented at the University of
    Missouri, Columbia, MO. Conference Topic:Toward the Development of a Comparative Research Agenda on
    the Rural Village.
Dershem, Larry. Examining the Relationship Between Community Participation and Learning. 1989. Prepared for
    the Annual Meeting of the Sociological Practice Association, Michigan State University, Ann Arbor, MI.
    Conference Topic: Sociological Practice Initiatives--Making Communities Work.

INDEPENDENT TRAVEL EXPERIENCE:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, American Samoa, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China and Tibet, England, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Guam, India, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Turkey, and the former Yugoslavia.

OVERSEAS LIVING EXPERIENCE:
Solomon Islands from 1983-1987 in the rural village of Komuvaolu, weather coast, Guadalcanal.
Russia: June of 1992, June - October of 1993; June-September 1995, June-August 1996, May-September 1997
Tbilisi, Georgia: January 8-April 20, 1996.
Yerevan, Armenia: August 11-September 12, 1996, Dec. 1997-February 1998

LANGUAGE SKILLS:
Fluent in Bislama of the Solomon Islands.
Beginning Russian

STATISTICAL SKILLS:
ANOVA, correlation, multiple regression, logistic regression, factor analysis, alpha reliability, structural equation modeling.
 
COMPUTER SKILLS:
IBM: DOS, Windows, SPSSPC+, SpssWin 8.0, Word Perfect, Norton Utilities, MSWord
Macintosh: virtually all word processing, statistical, and graphic programs.
CMS-VMB: SPSSx
Internet (i.e., E-mail, Gopher, FTP, Mosaic, Netscape).