Robert Francis Named Visiting Scholar by Nation’s Leading Poverty Research Institute
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The program supports U.S.-based poverty scholars from low-income backgrounds by providing access to academic resources and professional networks. Scholars spend a week in residence at IRP or one of its partner centers. Francis will visit the West Coast Poverty Center at the University of Washington this year. He will share his research with faculty, garner critical feedback and present a seminar.
“The IRP is the nation's flagship poverty research center, so it's an honor to be recognized by them in this way,” Francis says. “I'm excited for the opportunity to share my emerging research with some of their experts and forever be part of the IRP network of scholars."
Francis came to Whitworth in 2019. His research focuses on U.S. poverty and inequality, housing and homelessness, the working class, social policy and rural communities. His solo-authored work has appeared in The Journal of Working Class Studies, Socius, Teaching Sociology, and RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.
“This is a well-deserved honor for such an outstanding scholar,” says Erica Salkin, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts, Science, & Education. “I look forward not only to seeing the impact of his contributions to the IRP, but also how this opportunity will enhance and strengthen his impressive work in the classroom.”
Francis was a 2018-19 Annie E. Casey Foundation Rural Poverty Research Fellow and was a member of the American Sociological Association's (ASA) Task Force on First-Generation and Working-Class People in Sociology. He currently serves on the editorial board of the journal, Teaching Sociology. His work has been awarded by the Rural Sociological Society (RSS), the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), and the District of Columbia Sociological Society (DCSS).
“Dr. Francis’s work not only exemplifies Whitworth’s mind-and-heart mission, but also models for students how they can use the ideas and skills they gain in their liberal arts degrees to care for their communities and love their neighbors,” Salkin said.
Founded in 1966, IRP is the nation’s longest-standing poverty research center and is designated by the U.S. government as the National Poverty Research Center. It conducts nonpartisan research to inform policy and practice on poverty and inequality in the United States.
About Whitworth University:
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private Christian liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Contacts:
Trisha Coder, associate director of media relations, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or tcoder@whitworth.edu.
