Reimagining the Future of Rural Economies, Housing, and Education in the United States

media release: Rural areas in the United States have seen many changes over the last several years, including a post-pandemic population rebound after years of decline, a more rapidly aging population, increasing racial diversity, and a shift toward service-based economies. Join us for an insightful webinar that explores how rural communities are navigating these changes through the lenses of economic diversification, community resilience, and educational innovation. This webinar will begin by discussing the evolving economic identity of rural areas, analyzing diverse place-based development paths such as natural amenity tourism, reindustrialization, and innovative land reuse like grid-scale solar farming. Next, we address the pressing issues of gentrification and housing insecurity, tackling the complex challenges that arise when rural growth intersects with affordability. Finally, we will introduce Asset-Based Innovation in Rural Education (ABIRE), a collaborative framework that shifts the focus from "fixing deficits" to leveraging local strengths and the ethics of care to drive rural school improvement.

Presenters:

Amanda McMillan Lequieu, assistant professor, Department of Sociology, Drexel University

Jennifer Sherman, professor, Department of Sociology, Washington State University

Jamon H. Flowers, assistant professor in educational leadership and policy, University of Georgia