Toby Applegate

Toby Applegate is a Lecturer and Chief Undergraduate Advisor in the Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, within the School of Earth and Sustainability. He earned his PhD from Rutgers University in 2014 and remains actively engaged in research and teaching.

His research centers on human geography, focusing on state power, human rights, material culture, and post-socialist transitions, with a regional emphasis on Slovenia and Southeastern Europe. He explores how landscapes of care are formed, particularly in response to refugee crises, and investigates symbolic cultural forms like the Slovenian kozolec (hayrack) as expressions of national identity.

His recent publications reveal a consistent interdisciplinary focus on ethics, political geography, and critical theory, analyzing themes such as 'The Erasing' in Slovenia, neoliberal governance, and the spatial dimensions of exclusion. His work bridges cultural, political, and historical geography, often employing ethnographic and critical methodologies.

• W.K. McClure Fund for the Study of World Affairs
• Stewart K. McCroskey Memorial Fund
• Research grant from ZRC-SASU (Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts)

Applegate teaches courses including Human Landscapes, World Regional Geography, Economic Geography, and a graduate seminar on Marxist thought in geography co-taught with Eve Vogel. He has supervised academic work and mentored students, though specific advisees are not named. He is affiliated with research networks in Slovenia and collaborates with scholars in human rights and Eastern European studies. His public engagement includes media appearances and academic roundtables on Slovenian politics and refugee issues.