GCI

Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Faculty Scholar Detail, 2004-2005

Maria Krysan
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Rust Belt Revitalizing: What Determines Who Lives Where?
The Inaugural Chicago Area Study and Beyond

While a GCI Faculty Scholar, Maria Krysan spent a significant amount of her time being involved in the day-to-day operations of the data collection phase of her study. The study involved a survey of adult residents in the Chicago and Detroit metropolitan areas centered around understanding the causes of persistent racial residential segregation in these two rustbelt metropolises. Krysan was able to conduct some of the interviews involving a randomly selected group of residents of the Chicago metropolitan area; the interviews involved face-to-face and computer-assisted techniques, seeking to learn about the respondents' assessments of their neighborhoods, experiences searching for housing, racial attitudes, perceptions of the housing options in the larger metropolitan area, and experiences with discrimination, among others.

Krysan was able to provide ten graduate and undergraduate students with an opportunity to get involved, hands-on, in the survey data collection process. She was also able to continue to develop and promote the Chicago Area Study initiative, including laying the groundwork for future collaborations with the Chicago Urban League. Professor Krysan was able to prepare and submit a grant application to the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development for the purposes of analyzing the data from the Detroit Area Study and Chicago Area Study, as well as the focus groups and in-depth interviews that had been conducted in advance of the survey. Finally, Krysan and her colleagues have begun to work with the data from the Detroit samples and have made numerous presentations at conferences.

The Great Cities Institute Faculty Scholars Program brings UIC faculty to the institute for a year in residence to begin, further, or complete an engaged research project. Scholars are free from their formal teaching responsibilities during their term. Prospective scholars apply by submitting a proposal that is peer reviewed along three key metrics of engaged research: interdisciplinarity, partnership, and impact.

GCI Faculty Scholars implement and further their own research agendas, as well as develop grant proposals, participate in the Great Cities Institute Lecture Series, and contribute to the Great Cities Institute Working Paper Series. Applications are released in the fall semester and due at the start of the spring semester.