Center for Ozarks Poverty Research Archives

Missouri State University and the Center for Ozarks Poverty Research (COPR) hosted the second annual Community Conference on Poverty April 11, 2025, on the Springfield campus.

Anthropology professor Dr. Marnie Watson and sociology instructor Christina Ryder founded COPR. They currently serve as co-directors for the organization. They also teach in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG), part of the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH) at Missouri State.

Journalist and anthropologist Dr. Brian Goldstone was the conference’s keynote speaker. In addition to discussing his latest book, “There is No Place For Us: Homeless and Working in America,” Goldstone participated in a panel discussion and signed copies of his new book afterward.

Watson and Ryder saw an opportunity to build the second conference around the theme of housing and employment with the release of Goldstone’s book. Conference topics and themes differ each year, they said.

“Each year we choose a different angle to look at poverty from,” Watson said. “The first year we focused on housing and homelessness. This second year the focus was on housing and employment, specifically individuals who are unhoused and working.”