Please join us in welcoming Historic Preservation Academic Director Monica T. Davis and Urban Placemaking Interim Academic Director Emily Ahn Levy. Monica’s appointment is the result of an international search to fill the position. Their appointments, within the School of Architecture’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE) department, begin on July 1, 2025.
They will join incoming GCPE Chairperson Courtney Knapp and Sustainable Environmental Systems Academic Director Leonel Ponce and this administrative team will work together to keep moving the GCPE department and Pratt School of Architecture forward.
Learn more about Monica and Emily below.
Monica T. Davis
Monica T. Davis is an Architectural Designer, Historic Preservationist, and former Forensic Pathologist Assistant whose interdisciplinary career bridges science, architecture, and cultural heritage. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Historic Preservation, and a Master of Preservation Studies. Her early work in forensic pathology sharpened her analytical skills and deepened her understanding of spatial relationships, evidence documentation, and the ethical care of human narratives—foundational experiences that now inform her approach to architectural preservation. Davis has conducted extensive research on African American vernacular architecture, especially the preservation of shotgun houses, using ethnographic fieldwork and GIS analysis to document the evolution and cultural significance of these structures in places like East Wilson, North Carolina.
She is the founder of the Rebirthing Our Cultural Kingdom Foundation (R.O.C.K.), through which she develops educational initiatives focused on historic districts, architectural literacy, and community-driven preservation. Her professional portfolio includes leadership roles such as Executive Director of Preservation of Wilson and Historic Preservation Planner II for the City of Wilmington, where she worked on policy, design review, and public outreach. Davis has also served as Preservation Coordinator for Triad Cultural Arts, LLC, and an Architectural Historian and Designer with Fung Associates, Inc., contributing to HABS, HAER, and HALS documentation and mid-century modern rehabilitation projects. Through projects like We Built This: Profiles of Black Architects and Builders in North Carolina and her use of augmented reality in preservation education, Davis brings innovation, empathy, and a dynamic interdisciplinary perspective that aligns with Pratt Institute’s mission. She is eager to bring her multifaceted expertise and passion to the role of Academic Director of Historic Preservation at the Pratt Institute.
Emily Ahn Levy
Emily Ahn Levy 안은옥 (they/them, she/her) is an educator and cultural organizer based in Lenapehoking / New York City for more than 20 years. Their practice is situated at the intersections of community arts and culture, social justice and the public realm. As a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Urban Placemaking & Management graduate program at Pratt Institute, Emily has been awarded the Taconic Fellowship alongside the Bangladeshi Ladies Club and the inaugural DEI Faculty Fellowship, where they created a social justice resource library guide for department faculty. Most recently, Emily has been awarded the Faculty Development Fund in support of their book project exploring transcultural placemaking by and for Korean-born adopted people. As a transnational adopted person, Emily studied Korean language and Urban Design at Seoul National University. Emily is a graduate of Pratt Institute with both a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Science in Urban Placemaking & Management.
Emily has curated and produced more than 100 public programs, peer exchanges, and place-based events with Arts & Democracy and Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY (NOCD-NY). Funded by the National Endowment of the Arts, Emily directed a social practice artist-in-residence program across five parks in New York City with ArtBuilt Mobile Studio, Queens Museum and NYC Parks. As a member of the American Planning Association New York Metro Area’s Diversity Committee, Emily co-curated and produced the Hindsight Conference, an annual convening focused on equity in planning. Emily was also a member-owner of artist collective The Illuminator, organized with KQTx, and they currently organize with Angry Asian Womxn. Emily is on the Board of Directors of Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership in their neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn.