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Rural Communities and Migration in the U.S.

Rural Communities and Migration in the U.S.

I began my career as a geographer studying rural communities in the U.S., specifically in regions that are often considered to be remote or to be facing significant economic challenges, such as the Great Plains and Appalachia.  I finished my doctoral work at Kansas State University, focusing my dissertation research on urban-rural migration and honing my interests in rural community change.  From KSU I moved to Morehead State University in eastern Kentucky, where I was privileged to have opportunities through the Institute for Regional Planning and Public Policy, to engage widely in local projects related to housing, youth development, migration, and place identities.  After four years, I moved to Macalester College, where my work has primarily focused on Kazakh ethnic minority migration in Mongolia.

Although I’ve worked less in the U.S. recently, I remain intensely interested in remote and rapidly evolving rural regions in North America and teach a course specifically related to this topic – Rural Landscapes and Livelihoods.

List of Publications
Journal Articles

Barcus, H.R. and Laura J. Smith. 2015. Facilitating Native Land Reacquisition in the Rural United States through Collaborative Research and Geographic Information Systems. Special Issue of Geographical Research. doi:10.1111/1745-5871.12167

Barcus, H.R. 2013. Sustainable Development or Integrated Rural Tourism? Considering the Overlap in Rural Development Strategies. Journal of Rural and Community Development (Special Issue) 8(2).

Barcus, H.R. and Laura Simmons*. 2013. Ethnic Restructuring in rural America: Migration and the changing faces of rural communities in the Great Plains.  Professional Geographer. 65(1): 130-152.

Barcus, H.R and Stanley D. Brunn. 2010. Place elasticity: Exploring a new conceptualization of mobility and place attachment in rural America. Geografiska  Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 92(4): 281-295.

Barcus, H.R. and S.D. Brunn. 2009. Towards a typology of mobility and place attachment in rural America. Journal of Appalachian Studies 15(1&2): 26-48.

Hare, Timothy S. and Holly R. Barcus. 2007. Geographical accessibility and Kentucky’s heart-related hospital services. Applied Geography 27(3-4): 181-205.

Barcus, H.R. 2007. The Emergence of New Hispanic Settlement Patterns in Appalachia. The Professional Geographer 59(3):298-315.

Barcus, Holly R. and Timothy Hare. 2007. Health Care Utilization, Deprivation and Heart Related Disease in Kentucky. Southeastern Geographer 47(2):202-221.

Barcus, Holly R. 2004.  Rural In-Migration in the USA: An Analysis of Residential Satisfaction. Regional Studies 38(6):643-658.

Robbins, Suzanne M. and Holly R. Barcus. 2004. Welfare Reform and Economic and Housing Capacity for Low Income Households, 1997-1999.  Policy Studies Journal. 32(3):439-460.

Brunn, Stanley D. and Holly R. Barcus. 2004. New Perspectives on the Changing Religious Diversity in the Great Plains. Great Plains Research 14(1):49-76.

Barcus, Holly R. and Stanley D. Brunn. 2004. Mapping Changes in Denominational Membership in the Great Plains, 1952-2000.  Great Plains Research 14(1):19-48.

Barcus, Holly R., Suzanne M. Robbins, Travis Torrence*. 2004. Examining the Outcomes of a Rural Housing Assessment in Rowan County, Kentucky.  Papers and Proceedings of the Applied Geography Conference 27:390-399.

Barcus, Holly R. 2002. Changing Occupant Characteristics in Rural Public Housing in the Great Plains: 1977-1996. Housing Policy Debate 13(4):729-754.

Barcus, Holly R. 2000. Creating an inventory of managed areas for habitat protection status assessment: Kansas GAP Analysis Stewardship Coverage Development. Papers and Proceedings of the Applied Geography Conference 23: 370-377.

Book Chapters

Barcus, H.R. 2011. Heterogeneity of Rural Housing Markets. In Rural Housing, Exurbanization, and Amenity Driven Development: Contrasting the “Haves” and the “Have Nots”. Marcouiller, D.W., M.L.Lapping, O. Furuseth (eds.). Surry, UK: Ashgate Publishing. P51-74.

Barcus, H.R. 2006. Wal-Mart-scapes in Rural and Small Town America. In From Bentonville to Beijing: Wal-Mart’s Footprint on the Global Economy.  Ed. Stanley D. Brunn. Routledge: New York.

Barcus, H.R. 2006. New Destinations for Hispanic Migrants: An Analysis of Rural Kentucky.  In The New South: Latinos and the Transformation of Place.  Eds. Owen J. Furuseth and Heather Smith. Ashgate Press: London, UK.

Barcus, H.R. 2005. Assessing variation in rural America’s housing stock: Case studies from growing and declining areas. Contrasting Ruralities: Changing Rural Economies,

Societies and Landscapes. Eds. Essex, S.J., A.W. Glig, R.B. Yarwood, J.Smithers, R. Wilson. CABI Publishing: Wallingford, UK.

Hail, Michael and Holly R. Barcus. 2005. “Rural Policy” in American Federalism: An Encyclopedia. Ed. J. R. Marbach. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Research Projects