Patricia Leavy

Patricia Leavy, Ph.D. is an independent sociologist (formerly associate professor, chair of sociology, and founding director of gender studies at Stonehill College). She is widely considered an international leader in the fields of arts-based research and qualitative inquiry, and has earned critical and commercial success in both nonfiction and fiction. Her twenty-two published books include Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice, The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, Fiction as Research Practice, Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research and the novels Low-Fat Love, American Circumstance and, Blue. Her work has been translated into numerous languages. She is series creator and editor of seven book series with Oxford University Press and Sense Publishers, including the ground-breaking Social Fictions series. Known for her commitment to public scholarship, she is frequently called on by the national news media and has regular blogs for The Huffington Post, The Creativity Post and We Are the Real Deal. She has received numerous career awards including the New England Sociologist of the Year Award given by the New England Sociological Association, Special Achievement Award given by the American Creativity Association, the Egon Guba Memorial Keynote Lecture Award given by the American Educational Research Association Qualitative SIG, and a Special Career Award given by the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. In 2016 Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named Leavy an “Influencer” along with Chelsea Clinton, Melissa Etheridge, Nina Garcia, and other notable women.