Grant Awarded to Dr. Margaret Cowell, PhD

Dr. Margaret Cowell received a grant from the John D. and Catherine T.  MacArthur Foundation to support her research on regional resilience in deindustrializing Midwestern regions of the United States. The larger research network of which Dr. Cowell is a member, “Building Resilient Regions” (BRR), is working on a national analysis of metropolitan resilience in the face of various economic and social challenges. This interdisciplinary team of scholars and practitioners is investigating why regions matter now, what constitutes resilience in the face of these challenges, and what factors help to build and sustain regional resilience. Dr. Cowell's own research examines industrial Midwestern metropolitan regions in the United States as they struggled with the economic restructuring that began to unravel regional economies during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Using a combination of both economic data and qualitative data collected from interviews with former stakeholders in each region, she is identifying how local reactions to this prolonged economic downturn were fashioned, whom they involved, and in what ways they contributed to or detracted from regional resilience in these metropolitan areas.

In December, Dr. Cowell traveled to Paris and Lille, France as a guest of the French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation.  The trip was part of a reciprocal exchange program for French and American cultural leaders in partnership with the French Ministry of Culture and Communications.  The aim of this ongoing exchange program is to foster dialog between experts from both countries on cultural policy and cultural industry issues and engage a reflection on best practices. The French-American Foundation aims toward the creation of trans-Atlantic contact and cooperation among cultural professionals in all cultural areas. This year marks the beginning of a three-year focus on Cities in Transition. A French delegation of architects, planners, and journalists visited UAP at the Prince Street location in November as part of the American tour. 

In December, Dr. Cowell and four other American delegates traveled to two French cities/regions: the cities of Paris (Ile de France region) and Lille (Nord-Pas-de-Calais region). Both cities are undertaking efforts to revitalize transitional neighborhoods via the PNRQAD program, a national policy initiative which seeks to promote affordable housing and prevent social exclusion.