UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s “Stories from the Field” conversation series is returning this spring with a brand-new session focused on research examining housing inequality in North America.
The aim of the series is to explore the “why” and “how” of community engagement and applied research, including why people approach their work the way they do and how it looks and feels on the ground. Each session will be interactive, and participants are invited to ask questions and share insights from their own experiences.
The series, which will take place via Zoom and in person in 214 Ferguson Building at University Park, is free and open to anyone interested in attending, including undergraduate and graduate students and those in the community.
Daniela Aiello, assistant professor of geography at Penn State, will present this season’s sole session, titled “‘Wins,’ losses, and setbacks: Contending with the colonial-racial legal geographies of tenant organizing in spaces of extreme housing exploitation.” The talk will take place from noon to 1 p.m. April 16.
The session will focus on Aiello’s research looking at tenant organizing across two sites of extreme housing exploitation in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Atlanta, Georgia. Drawing on two examples of legal “wins” for increased tenant protections and rent control, she will discuss how approaches directed toward achieving legal protections potentially can backfire against the most vulnerable residents.
The series is hosted by Penn State’s Center for Economic and Community Development, an applied research center dedicated to strengthening local and regional development in Pennsylvania and beyond. The center is housed in the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education.
All “Stories from the Field” sessions are recorded. Links to previous event recordings are available online.