KINGSTON, R.I. – October 3, 2016 — Deanna Trella, an assistant professor and director of Children’s Studies at Eastern Washington University, and Timothy Hilton, a professor at Eastern Washington, will speak about poverty and homelessness Tuesday, Oct. 11, at the URI Honors Colloquium, “Inequality and the American Dream.”

The duo, which together has written numerous scholarly works on the subject of homelessness and its affects on families and children, will present their talk at 7 p.m. in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road.

Trella has published numerous working and technical papers on the subject of children growing up homeless, particularly in rural areas, as well as papers about marriage and family relationships, particularly between parents and their children. Her work has been published in World Medical and Health Policy, Contemporary Rural Social Work and Family Relations.

Trella has published five works with Hilton, including You just gotta do it, ‘cause those are your kids, which details survival parenting and rural homelessness; They can only do so much: Use of family while coping with rural homelessness; and I got a daughter who’s got to look up to her father: Fatherhood and rural homelessness.

Hilton, who earned a doctorate from the University of Chicago, primarily focuses his research on homelessness and poverty, employment and low-wage work, and organizational theory.

He has participated in many scholarly discussions on the subjects, including co-presenting with Trella in 2014 at the Society for Social Work Research and a forum on Health, Homelessness and Poverty in Washington D.C. in 2013, when the duo presented a discussion titled, “You Beg, Borrow and Steal to Make Sure Your Children are Taken Care Of: the Stress of Parenting while Homeless in a Rural Area.”

In addition to his scholarly work, Hilton has volunteered at homeless shelters and helped former prison inmates reintegrate into civilian life through programs such as the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative.