Matt Gunterman is a doctoral candidate at Yale University, where his research focuses on the emergence of hygienic individualism in the Unites States.
A native of rural Kentucky, a state his family has called home for over two hundred years, Gunterman for the last decade has been active in addressing modern challenges of rural life in America through novel applications of digital technologies. In 2002, he founded the New Millennium News, an online news source covering rural issues and pioneering methods of reader-generated content and citizen journalism. In 2005, he formed the nonprofit that would evolve into Ruralution, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing mentoring services to rural high school students as they transition into urban areas for educational or career purposes. In 2006, running on a reform-platform, Gunterman stood for election as county executive of his native McLean County, Kentucky. His campaign themes centered on greater regional cooperation among rural, suburban, and urban communities, and on aggressive framing of the county nationally and internationally as a possible model rural community for the Digital Age. Gunterman won the three-candidate party primary handily with an outright majority of votes but lost the general election to the three-term incumbent by razor-thin 48-vote margin. His campaign has since been highlighted as an example of successful resurgent Southern progressivism. In 2007, Gunterman went on to establish DM-KY, a website focused on Kentucky politics. Providing its content were Gunterman and a team of four other contributors assembled by him from around the state.
Juxtaposed against this engagement with the future of rural communities in the United States is his extensive time abroad and work for international employers. Gunterman served as an intern with the Latvian Embassy in Washington, DC, where he worked on preparation of the nation’s Military Action Plan for entry into NATO. Gunterman completed studies abroad as an undergraduate at University of Regensburg, Germany, and Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, PRC, and he completed postgraduate study at Glasgow University in Scotland, where he graduated with distinction.
