Tracy L. ScottAssociate Teaching Professor

• PhD in Sociology, Princeton University, 1999
• MA in Sociology, Princeton University, 1992
• MA in Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1989
• AB in Economics, Stanford University, 1983

Dr. Tracy L. Scott is an Associate Teaching Professor in Sociology.

Dr. Scott received an A.B. in Economics from Stanford University, an MA in Theology from Fuller Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Princeton University.

While finishing her dissertation about gender and religious differences in work values, Dr. Scott began a career as a health services researcher. She continued in that field for 11 years, first as a senior researcher at the Prudential Center for Health Care Research and then as a Research Assistant Professor at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Although Dr. Scott valued her time in healthcare research, her primary interests are in the sociology of culture and gender, and in teaching. In 2007, she moved into a full time position with the Sociology Department at Emory University. 

From 2014 to 2020, she was Director of Emory’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP): The Nature of Evidence: How Do We Know? For more on the QEP, go here. 

Dr. Scott focuses her teaching on making connections between the evidence produced by social research and everyday life. Her goal is that students use this evidence to understand the world more critically, be more reflective in their actions, and make more informed choices in their own lives.

Dr. Scott’s research focuses on culture, gender, and work. She is particularly interested in how culture (e.g., religion; gender role norms; local contexts) influences life decisions (e.g., career paths), as well as the practices around work and family. 

Dr. Scott is the Director of The Moonshot Era Project, and Principal Investigator for the Moonshot Astronaut Families research project.

The Moonshot Era (Apollo 15 Learning Hub) Project

In May of 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy issued his first “Moonshot” challenge to the nation. By July of 1969, Kennedy’s Moonshot challenge had been met, when the U.S. successfully landed two men on the moon (and brought them safely back to earth) during Apollo 11. In the span of eight years, the U.S. space program achieved extraordinary success culminating in the Apollo lunar landings (which extended through 1972).

The space missions of the Moonshot era were extraordinary scientific achievements; they were also historical events located in specific social and cultural contexts. The Moonshot Era Project has two main goals:

• Primary Source Repository: gather and preserve the primary sources from two space missions (Apollo 15 and Gemini 8), as well as broader primary sources from the era, particularly those from astronaut families; make these sources publicly available for educational purposes.
• Sociological Explorations: use these primary sources to explore the communities and culture that enabled the success of the Moonshot achievements.

Work in Progress

We have the following endeavors underway.

• Apollo 15 Learning Hub in collaboration with the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. https://apollo15hub.org/about
• The Scott Papers in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/3360
• Moonshot Astronaut Families research project https://tracylscott.org/2024/02/23/moonshot-astronaut-families-update/

• SOC 101: Introduction to General Sociology
• SOC 221: Culture & Society
• SOC 355W: Research Methods in Sociology
• SOC 461: Moon Bound in the 60s: A Sociology of the Apollo Era
• SOC 585: Introduction to Qualitative Interviews