CGS Brown Bag Lecture Series

Kai Schafft & Renata Horvatek, Penn State

How have rural youth in Central Europe and other transitional regions of the world responded to recent socioeconomic, demographic, and political shifts? What are young peoples’ attitudes toward their rural roots, family, and tradition? What are the spatial, social, family, educational and institutional factors that shape rural youth aspirations for future residence, career, and occupation? How do schools and communities support young people as they develop plans for adult lives, and what are the implications for educational and community-level practice? How do these processes differ regionally, and how might regional economies affect youth decision-making? How do these identities shape rural youth aspirations for the future, their attachment to their home communities, and the ways in which social and political exclusions and inclusions are reinforced, challenged, and/or reconfigured? This talk will discuss an ongoing collaboration to address these questions with researchers from the University of Split in Croatia, as well as with other scholars and researchers in surrounding countries who have joined together in the effort to compile an edited volume.