The Researcher

"I’m not from Detroit; I’m from New York City. I’m extremely curious as to what happened to this place, this city. This Mecca that has provided America with a soundtrack and culture that defined the 20th century…Please tell me your story.”

Joyce-Zoe Farley | A native of New York City, is a digital and visual arts enthusiast. As a "Jane of all trades" and a master of some—scholar, digital specialist, filmmaker, oral historian, photographer, visual artist, writer and much more—I’m always wanting to live life and capture those moments with pen and camera in hand.

I’m a third-year doctoral year student in the African American and African Studies (AAAS) with graduate certifications in Advanced Journalism and Digital Humanities. Also, I’m the first non-traditional student producing a film instead of a book for my dissertation. In addition to my studies, I’m also a three-time fellow: University Enrichment Fellow (UEF), Cultural Heritage Informatics (CHI) Fellow with the Department of Anthropology and MATRIX, and a Pulliam Journalism Fellow with the Arizona Republic, which was successfully completed this summer 2016. Lastly, I’m the recipient of the 2016 Excellence of Diversity Awards Students Making A Difference through Artistic Expression. Recently, I placed second in the Mayors' (East Lansing and Lansing) Annual Essay Contest, in which the topic was to tackle local hunger. 

My dissertation research focuses on riots, rebellions, civil disturbances and uprisings of the 20th century with the catalyst of the work Detroit 1967. The goal of my work is to give those who have a story a voice, a platform to speak their truth about Detroit, the events of July 1967 and the “New Detroit” for which they have very little to no say. 

This is a lifetime project dedicated to the city that started with an internship working at WXYZ, the ABC affiliate in Detroit in summer 2009, and has continued to flourish and develop tenfold since then.

This is for Detroit. A city that has taught me that community service can be an intellectual endeavor, and one that pays it forward for a lifetime.

 

Work Samples: