HCII Seminar Series - Lauren Herckis
Speaker
Lauren Herckis
Senior Director of the Center for Research and Policy at the Global Health Workforce Development Institute
When
-
Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305
Video
Video link
Description
"Designing for impact in educational systems with implementation science"
Human interactions unfold in complex social and technological contexts, but when a promising innovation fails to deliver the obstacles often look and feel hyper-local. Analytical methods drawn from structural analysis and implementation science situate human-technology interactions within their interpersonal, social, institutional, structural, cultural, and temporal contexts can reveal inflection points that, like the wings of a butterfly, can have impacts that reverberate throughout complex socio-technical systems. In this talk, we will explore how analytical tools that interrogate interactions in their broader context can be used to identify and overcome barriers to transformational change. Ground-shaking innovations arise and seem to vanish with the next news cycle. Only the rare few take hold and change the landscape completely. We will situate innovation and the sustained implementation of innovative tools, such as elearning technologies, within an implementation framework to design for social and system change in education.
Speaker's Bio
Lauren Herckis Ph.D. is Senior Director of the Center for Research and Policy at the Global Health Workforce Development Institute, an immigration-neutral, NGO-supported thinktank with a global footprint, a 50-year history, and consultative status to the United Nations. Her work catalyzes a robust research agenda with a focus on the digital transformation of healthcare education, credentialing, and workforce development in global contexts. Herckis earned her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in 2015 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon in 2018. A Fulbright recipient, her work has been funded by the NSF, IES, R. K. Mellon Foundation, IMLS, California Education Learning Labs, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Hillman Family Foundations. Her research helps leaders in higher education and competency-based assessment develop resilient postsecondary infrastructure around the world. In 2025, Herckis was elected Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology in recognition of her significant and enduring contributions to the field.
Host
Jessica Hammer