After Hitler rose to power in 1933, social scientist Kurt Lewin fled Berlin, immigrated to the United States, and joined the faculty in the Department of Home Economics (now College of Human Ecology) at Cornell University. During this time Lewin became concerned about the effects of exploitation and other forms of oppression on marginalized people in the U.S. He thought research—when conducted ethically and in partnership with the people whose lives it would affect—could be one pathway for addressing pressing issues in society. It is that vision that led him to develop an approach that became known as action research. Lewin argued that if we want to make effective changes in the world, and make it more equitable, it is important to have good theories—to conduct research that could generate actionable insights to promote equity. He also argued that doing the research alone was not enough—researchers need to work closely with partners to turn those insights into action to improve the world.
In January 2022, action researchers will have a new institutional home at Cornell. The Colleges of Human Ecology (CHE) and Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) are collaborating to launch a new initiative called the Action Research Collaborative (ARC) that supports the Lewinian tradition of bringing together researchers, practitioners, community members, and policymakers to address pressing issues in society. ARC is co-directed by two faculty members who have spent their careers conducting action research in partnership with a variety of communities and organizations: Dr. Neil Lewis, Jr., assistant professor in the Department of Communication (CALS) and Dr. Tashara M. Leak, assistant professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences (CHE); both also have faculty appointments in the Division of General Internal Medicine (Weill Cornell Medicine).
Neil Lewis, Jr. (left) and Tashara M. Leak (right) are co-directors of the Action Research Collaborative.
ARC’s goal is to develop and support equitable and sustainable action research partnerships that can generate solutions to improve lives. This collaborative is an institutional hub for cross-campus collaborations between Ithaca and New York City, and wherever else those partnerships may develop. ARC’s dedicated team of researchers (students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty) will support action research projects and evaluate their effects on relevant outcomes.
ARC is housed in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research and New York City (570 Lexington Avenue).
The tragedies—and inequities in those tragedies—over the past 20 months have underscored the need to have an institutional home to support action research. ARC is designed to support continuous and dynamic exchanges between researchers, practitioners, community members, and policymakers. These exchanges are necessary to facilitate just-in-time decision making to address pressing social issues and to reimagine and rebuild better, more equitable, societies.
Faculty interested in working with ARC for research in communities can reach can email Lewis or Leak.
