Carleton’s faculty take a wide array of approaches public scholarship, such as publishing books for popular audiences, authoring friend-of-the-court briefs, translating science research for general audiences, designing museum exhibits, and more. Within this wide universe of public-facing academic work, faculty also practice community-engaged and civically-engaged scholarship. This may look like analyzing data for use by a community group or conducting research in partnership with people impacted by a focal issue, for example. These are the specific forms of public scholarship supported by the CCCE because of our community and civic engagement mission.

Working with external partners beyond the academy introduces ethical considerations and requires collaborative approaches that are different from many other forms of scholarly work. Our staff are available to consult on project and partnership development. Also, because this type of scholarship can require more time for relationship building and collaborative work, the CCCE offers support for faculty taking such an approach through the Broom Fellowship.

For a detailed exploration of the concepts of community-engaged scholarship and civically-engaged scholarship, see Lynn Blanchard and Andrew Furco’s 2021 “Faculty Engaged Scholarship: Setting Standards and Building Conceptual Clarity” from The Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship.

In brief:

The defining characteristic of community-engaged scholarship (CES) is the relationship between an institution of higher education and the community as they work together to solve issues of shared interest and concern. . . Community-engaged scholarship builds on creating partnerships with shared power and decision-making, often with a goal of social change. These partnerships are reciprocal, resulting in benefits to both the researcher and the community. (pp 25-26) 

Civically-engaged scholarship is defined by relationships between those in the university and those outside the university that are grounded in the qualities of reciprocity, mutual respect, shared authority, and co-creation of goals and outcomes in ways that promote a democratic society (Saltmarsh, 2016). Such relationships are by their very nature trans-disciplinary (knowledge transcending the disciplines and the college or university) and asset-based (where the strengths, skills, and knowledge of those in the community are validated and legitimized). (p. 22) 

What is Public Scholarship at Carleton

The CCCE’s Emily Seru and a variety of Carleton faculty describe what public scholarship means to them.