Rebecca Shimoni Stoil

Assistant Professor

Contact
Department of History
Office: 010 Hardin Hall
Email: rstoil@clemson.edu

Education
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins (2018); BA, University of Chicago (2002)

Courses
Twentieth Century United States

Research Interests
U.S. History; U.S. 1877-Present; Agrarian/Rural; U.S. and the World; Diplomatic/International; Political

Rebecca Shimoni Stoil is a historian of the twentieth century United States, focusing on rural politics, grassroots sentiment, and the US in the World. Before coming to Clemson in 2019, Professor Stoil was a lecturer at Loyola University of Maryland and served as the Washington Bureau Chief for the Times of Israel. Stoil’s research on the Farm Crisis of 1977-1987 focuses on agrarian grassroots activism and the political mobilization of the image of the virtuous farmer. Her academic fields of interest include American Political Development, political history, cultural history and history of capitalism. She has published in both popular and academic periodicals on topics including rural politics, coalition-building in the Great Society, gendered activism, and US-Israel relations and has served as a commentator on US politics for Israeli television news. A recipient of numerous research fellowships, including from the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, and the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Stoil is a co-founder of an international working group examining modern rural political cultures and rural representation.

Selected Professional Works

Books (In Production or Under Contract)

Tied to their Country: The Farm Crisis, Agriarian Activism and the Rise of Rural Anti-Federalism, Under Contract with University of Nebraska Press [manuscript submitted, under review]

Journal Articles & Book Chapters (Published)

“A Critical Intervention: When a Dream Dies, the Farm Crisis, and US Historiography.” Annals of Iowa, Spring 2023; 82 (2): 123-133.

“The Curious Case of Oscar Lorick: Race, Markets, and Militancy during the Farm Crisis.” Agricultural History, November 2022; 96 (4): 487–511. * Featured as Duke University Press’s “Weekly Read” (January 2023)

“Desperate Farm Wives: Gender, Activism, and Traditionalism in the Farm Crisis." Middle West Review, 2015; 2 (1): 33-49.

Journal Articles & Book Chapters (Accepted or Submitted)

“Chucking Corncobs with Khruschev: Grain Farmers, Soft Power, and Cold War Détente,” Middle West Review [Accepted, Forthcoming Spring 2026].

“Seeds of (Agri)Power: Hawkish Carter, Dovish Reagan, and the Grain Embargo of 1980-1981,” Diplomatic History [Accepted, Forthcoming 2025]