Guide Provides Examples and Recommendations for Supporting Public Engagement and Innovation in Doctoral Education
NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to release "Preparing Publicly Engaged Scholars: A Guide for Innovation in Doctoral Education." This guide builds on the lessons of the Mellon/ACLS Scholars and Society Fellowship Program and provides examples and recommendations for supporting graduate students in conducting publicly-engaged research in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. This report was made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
"We see this report as a concrete resource that meets people where they are, tells stories of learning and change, and provides models for others to follow," said ACLS President Joy Connolly. "The product of conversations between faculty and students, it furnishes insights into how best to strengthen publicly engaged doctoral programming and the general doctoral experience. We hope it will spark inspiration and lift up the community of faculty, graduate students, administrators, and community members who are working to make publicly engaged doctoral education accessible to all."
The Mellon/ACLS Scholars and Society Fellowship Program supported three cohorts of faculty teaching in PhD-granting humanities departments between 2019 and 2023 as they pursued year-long publicly engaged research in partnership with community-based organizations, and, in the following year, undertook projects to enrich and improve doctoral education on their own campuses.
Each chapter of "Preparing Publicly Engaged Scholars" is written collaboratively by Mellon/ACLS Scholars and Society program alumni, their graduate students, and partners from community-based organizations to address key gaps in doctoral education and explore new approaches to curriculum that are responsive to the scholarly and professional ambitions of current and future advanced degree students in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. Contributions include a range of curricular and program innovations, from introducing graduate students to career pathways beyond the academy, to collaborative archival research with community partners, to incorporating land-based pedagogy in connecting and supporting Indigenous students. Though reflections on the community-engaged research projects and curricular change efforts funded by the Mellon/ACLS Scholars and Society Fellowship Program, each piece contains insights and recommendations applicable to a diverse range of research and learning contexts. The report also includes a set of general recommendations that cut across the projects.
This collaboratively-produced report is the latest in a number of ACLS initiatives intended to encourage scholarship responsive to diverse audiences and to demonstrate the value of advanced study in the humanities to communities beyond the academy through programs such as ACLS Leading Edge Fellowships, Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships, and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Buddhism Public Scholars. Through this report and related initiatives, ACLS is engaged in conversation with scholarly associations, institutions of higher education, and partners beyond the academy about the broad public value of humanistic inquiry and knowledge creation.
The report is available to download as a PDF from the ACLS website, along with additional resources for faculty, students, and community organizations interested in pursuing engaged research activities or exploring the career potential of humanities PhDs.
Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 80 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS utilizes its endowment and $37 million annual operating budget to expand the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting our commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship. In all aspects of our work, ACLS is committed to principles and practices in support of racial and social justice.
Media Contact
Anna Polovick Waggy, American Council of Learned Societies, 646-830-7661, [email protected], https://www.acls.org/
SOURCE American Council of Learned Societies
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