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Louise Jezierski

Louise Jezierski
  • Associate Professor
  • Director of the IIT Fellows Program
  • Faculty

BIOGRAPHY

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley; Sociology
Associate Professor & Director of the IIT Fellows Program

Louise A. Jezierski is a professor of Social Relations and Policy in James Madison College, Michigan State University. Her areas of teaching and research include urban and community development, social theory, urban social movements, regional political economy, social relations of race and ethnicity, class, and gender, U.S. social policy, including education policy, urban policy and economic development policy. She has engaged in research in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Lansing, Flint, Providence, Boston, Hartford and El Paso.

Teaching: Social Theory and Social Relations; Social Policy; Educational Policy; Community Development and Civic Engagement in Lansing; Metropolitan Society – Detroit; Global Cities and Urbanism.  

Dr. Jezierski is affiliated with Programs and Institutes at Michigan State University: Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Teaching Fellowship Program (Director: 2022 to the present); Faculty Advisory Board member for the Center for Community and Economic Development; Affiliated Faculty for Institute for Public Policy and Social Research; Core Faculty for the Center for Gender in Global Context; Affiliated Faculty for the Global Urban Studies Program (GUSP).

Recent research projects:  “Making Ends Meet: Women’s Work, the Care Sector and Regional Informal Economies” in Greater Lansing and Detroit; “Data and Stories: understanding teaching practices around the collection, analysis, and communication of data”; Global Urban Social Movements in the early 21st century; Social Networks, Brokerage Institutions, and Community Ecology in the Informal Care Economy; Film Narratives on Detroit; “Race/Socioeconomic Area Characteristics & Cancer – Detroit” funded by the National Cancer Institute, The Effect of State Legislation on Sub-Prime Lending, Michigan’s Latino Communities, Hispanic housing access in El Paso, Texas (funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Hispanic Housing Council); Cleveland and Pittsburgh’s urban revitalization; public-private partnerships and regional community and economic development.

Awards and Honors: Lilly Teaching Fellow in 2000-2001; MSU Alumni Club of Mid-Michigan Quality in Undergraduate Teaching Award in recognition of outstanding undergraduate teaching, Michigan State University all-university award (2010); MSU Curricular Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Award (2010 and 2016); Urban Affairs Association Distinguished Service Honor Roll (2021).

She received her B.A. at Boston University in Sociology and Geography and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She was a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA’s Institute of American Cultures in 1992 at the Chicano Studies Research Center.

NEWS

Louise Jezierski appeared on the radio program “What is Your Ideal America?” on WDET. She talked about the rising anxiety of Americans and their sustained optimism over the promise of opportunity. She discusses the declining chances for upward mobility, the debate over the size of government, and the promise of the Declaration of Independence for liberty and equality. The show also featured Marc Kruman, Prof. of History at Wayne State University. The show's production was also aided by SRP student, Veronica Walrad, who is doing her field experience at WDET. https://soundcloud.com/wdet/what-is-your-ideal-america-detroit-today

Colleen Tremonte and Louise Jezierski, and past IIT Fellow Samantha Noll (doctoral student in the MSU Department of Philosophy) presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference in October, 2013. Their panel, "Disciplinary 'Toolboxes', Interdisciplinary Teaching and Collaborative Inquiry," reported on their current research on the efficacy of integrating disciplinary methods for advancing critical thinking skills in interdisciplinary teaching and classroom practice.

Louise Jezierski presented the paper "Local Cultures and Regional Cultures: A Comparative Understanding of Niche Markets and Identities in the Global Economy" in Salvador, Brazil in July 2009 at a conference sponsored by the Federal University of Bahia.

Bryan Ritchie, Ross Emmett and Louise Jezierski are conducted a special research seminar that focuses on identifying the key public policy option that will help improve Michigan’s economic future. The seminar involved twelve hand-picked students that have an interest in studying the public policy of economic development.  That class first researched the economic public policies of eight U.S. states and four international countries. Students then compared the public policies of these regions in order to determine what is working to foster demand for high tech, high paying jobs and what is not. Next, students will compare their findings to the decisions being made in Michigan. Finally, they prepared new policy proposals that will be presented to the MSU Board of Regents, the State of Michigan, and to private economic actors.