Stanley Jamal Collins is a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design in the Department of City and Regional Planning. His current research examines how soundscapes (e.g., musical genre) and music venues influence place reputation and processes of neighborhood change more broadly. Using Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood as a case study, this research relies on ethnographic methods and engages scholarship in urban sociology, city and regional planning, music and sound studies, urban policy, and critical geography. This research agenda is particularly relevant as music venues are increasingly becoming central features of cities, being placed in residential areas (rather than “entertainment districts”), while also paying attention to how such institutions have the capacity to change, and at times, exploit, urban landscapes, and the people that inhabit such places.
Prior to becoming a Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanley earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Temple University, where he was also a Graduate Fellow in the College of Liberal Art’s Public Policy Lab. He holds a MS in sociology from Oklahoma State University and a BS in economics from Morehouse College. Stanley was born and raised in Philadelphia. Stanley is a photographer, aspiring cinephile, and guitarist and can often be found playing in Philadelphia’s churches and clubs.
