Tracy Corley: Transformative Science for Transitional Times
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT
Van Metre Hall (formerly Founders Hall), #121
Dr. Tracy Corley is the second Next System Speaker for 2024.
Please be certain to register here: https://forms.gle/4a6AaUZSWi7yVWqM9
Scientists have engaged everyday people in research for centuries. But, in recent decades, community-engaged and participatory practices are engaging researchers in new ways, blurring the line between scholarship and social activism. Critics claim that this approach to research weakens the validity of scientific inquiry, but is this true? Join Tracy A. Corley, PhD, in a discussion about the scientific merits of Community-Engaged Action Research (CEAR) and how researchers are using the approach to both expand knowledge and effect change around the world.
Scholar-activist Tracy A. Corley, PhD, is frequently sought as an expert, public speaker, and guest lecturer in community-engaged action research, planning, public policy, law, sustainability, environmental justice, and equitable development. She actively leads international collaborations that explore the participatory sciences and promote anti-racist and anti-oppressive research, planning, and policies. At Northeastern University, she teaches masters-level courses in public policy and urban affairs and leads social science and humanities programs at the Arlington, Virginia campus.
In 2021, Dr. Corley was appointed to the Social and Community Science subcommittee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Board of Scientific Counselors. She maintains a consulting practice, has been recognized as a Grist Fixer, and serves on the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Scientific Advisory Group for the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.
Previously, Dr. Corley was Director of Research and Partnerships at Conservation Law Foundation, where she oversaw the Healthy Neighborhoods Study, North America’s largest and longest-running Participatory Action Research into the effects of neighborhood change and development on public health. As MassINC’s Transit-Oriented Development Fellow, she conducted mixed methods research, convened residents and stakeholders in Massachusetts’ urban regions, led the authorship of "From Transactional to Transformative: The Case for Equity in Gateway City Transit-Oriented Development," and, with GBH, co-produced a companion webinar series on equitable development. During her mid-career graduate studies, she investigated the economic development potential of New England cities at the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy and examined informal work in Germany’s skilled trades and crafts sector as a DAAD research fellow at the Berlin Social Science Center; the Institute for Labor, Skills, and Qualifications at the University of Duisburg-Essen; and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
In Seattle, Washington, Dr. Corley conducted strategic planning and coordinated a participatory program for formerly incarcerated job seekers at Seattle Jobs Initiative; founded two consulting firms that helped advance clean technologies, sustainable development, and energy efficiency; served as Vice-Chair of Small Business for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Board of Trustees; and advised the Washington State governor and Congressional delegation on policy and legislation to advance inclusive economic development. She has also worked as an architect and designer in Washington State and South Carolina. Dr. Corley holds a BA in Architecture, a Master of Public Policy, and a PhD in Law and Public Policy.
