My name is Billy Southern. I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography here at Penn State and my research interests center on the theme of social inequalities and uneven structures of space. I’m broadly interested in spatial context and exploring the ongoing relationship between people and place.
More specifically, my research focuses on how spatial characteristics influence the social conditions of the wider area. I’m interested in the context of space and exploring how structural forces make and remake spatial characteristics. My research also examines socioeconomic conditions such as poverty and deprivation, social demographics, and cultural separations to explore how and why specific areas are subject to social change.
Before joining Penn State, I earned my Master of Civic Design in Town and Regional Planning at the University of Liverpool. During this time, I worked as a research assistant on a project focused on the spatial structure of the social economy in the Liverpool City Region. Prior to this, I earned my B.Sc. in Geography from the Manchester Metropolitan University.