Discussions about housing and homelessness tend to focus on a few key cities such as San Francisco, Austin, and Seattle. Can studies from those places explain what we experience in college towns, small cities, and rural areas? With an issue so intimately connected to place, shouldn’t we focus on the nuances of location? Sociologist Leontina Hormel, in conversation with Oregon Humanities’ Adam Davis, will explore the challenges of housing and the experience of homelessness outside urban areas.

Leontina Hormel is professor of sociology at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Her research focuses on how community members find ways to make ends meet and to support one another in the face of societal turmoil. Her community engaged research has earned awards in the American Sociological Association, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the Pacific Sociological Association. She has conducted community research in Ukraine, Russia, and throughout the state of Idaho. Her most recent research follows the struggles of residents living in manufactured home communities in north central Idaho as they experience corporate ownership schemes, landlord neglect, and impending park closure. One case of landlord abuse and neglect, and the ways community members fought for recognition and dignity, is detailed in Leontina Hormel’s 2024 book, Trailer Park America: Reimagining Working-Class Communities.

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