Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC)
International Conference on Engaged
Scholarship
Theme: Boundary Spanning
Engaged Scholarship Across Disciplines,
Communities & Geography
October 7–9, 2013
Texas Tech University
Dr. Samory T. Pruitt,
Vice President for Community Affairs
GUNi 6th International Barcelona Conference on Higher
Education
May 13–15, 2013
Let’s Build Transformative
Knowledge to Drive Social Change
Enlarging the Conception of Knowledge
Chair: Cristina Escriagas, Spain; Claudio Naranjo, Chile; Francois Vallaeys, France;
Jesus Granados, Spain; Lean Chan, Malaysia; Manuel Ramiro Monoz, Colombia; Paul
Wangoola, Uganda
Enlarging the Conception of Knowledge in the
Context of Traditional Research
Knowledge based on perspectives, culture, and experiences of non-academics are
often discounted by scholars because that knowledge:
• Has not been acquired and validated through established processes associated
with the academy.
• May be difficult to incorporate into research accepted by the academy.
• May not significantly contribute to the reputation of the researcher or the
institution.
Enlarging the Conception of Knowledge
When valued and utilized, community partner knowledge can:
• Provide a more complete perspective and more informed scholarship on the
area being researched.
• Lead to scholarship that improves the lives of the community partners involved
in the research.
• Contribute to the discovery of new knowledge that benefits the research, the
community, the institution, and society.
Enlarging the Conception of Knowledge
Dr. Andrew Furco, associate vice president and service-learning authority at
the University of Minnesota, speaking at the GUNi 6th International Barcelona
Conference on Higher Education in a session focusing on successful
community-university partnerships.
“Community Engagement is the collaboration between institutions of higher
education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange
of knowledge and resources in the context of partnership.”
-Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
6
Differences in Traditional and Engaged Scholarship
Traditional
•Breaks new ground
•Answers significant questions
•Peer reviewed
•Grounded in theory
•Advances disciplinary knowledge
Engaged
•Breaks new ground and has direct
application to broader public issues
•Answers significant questions relevant to
public or community issues.
•Reviewed and validated by qualified peers
in the discipline and community.
•Theoretically and practically grounded.
7
Success Stories from the Field of Healthcare:
Patient Engagement
• Through translational research, the medical field has led the way in engaged research at
home and abroad. Involving patients and family members in clinical and administration
results in an improved healthcare experience.
• Beverly Johnson, President and CEO of the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered
Care: “Patients do bring an important perspective … innovation needs lots of voices.” She
quotes Dr. Gordon Harvieux, Duluth, MN physician: “We have four parent partners on our
advisory committee. They come to the table with us every two weeks.” A healthcare plan
patients helped write is … “the single most important thing that will keep patients out of
the … hospital.”
8
Success Stories: Amplifying Youth Voice
•Society looks to youth for civic engagement tools. Empowered youth share their
perspectives, help create strong communities, and governmental and community
organizations benefit.
•In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, University and high school youth, led by their teachers and
professors, helped Tuscaloosa recover from the 2011 tornado. And, like so often is NOT the
case, those lessons have been converted into scholarly works for the future.
•“… young people engage and mobilize when they can link civic activities to other interests.
…links forged between traditionally accepted civic goals (“wish to help”) and experiences
more closely associated with participatory culture (“shared media experiences” and “sense
of community”) provide important insights into how [participatory civic] organizations
mobilize youth to care about, and take action around, civic issues” (Kligler-Vilenchik &
Shresthova, 2012).
•By “building communities, telling stories, and producing media,” young people use their
collective voice to positively influence others within their home communities and around the
world.
Success Stories from STEM: Engaging Teachers and Learners
in Engaged Scholarship through Maker Spaces
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) is powerfully connected to engaged scholarship.
Connecting STEM knowledge to daily life motivates teachers and learners. At The University of
Alabama we have injected STEM with Entrepreneurship into school and extracurricular activities.
• Makerspace is one example. Griffith and Dougherty (2013): They come in all shapes and sizes. Serve
as a gathering point for tools, projects, mentors and expertise. New tools for making, digital design,
and fabrication are emerging, we’re working together — with teachers and community leaders — to
place those tools into the hands of a wider audience. We’re building the infrastructure for more kids
and adults to connect to a future in which they can personally change, modify or “hack” the physical
world, creating things that were nearly impossible just a few years ago. Making is about getting handson, personally meaningful work.”
• “… in the same way U.S. companies studied the secrets of the Japanese manufacturers decades ago,
the institutions around us should look to the maker movement for tips on how to create an ecosystem
of talent, connections, and learning …” (Dougherty, 2012)
Conclusion
The GUNi conference presented
an opportunity to experience and
better comprehend the
international scope of engaged
scholarship and its ability to
enlarge the concept of knowledge
in ways that help to build a new
reality for humanity and for the
planet.
References
Balazs, C. (2013). The three Rs: How community-based participatory research strengthens the rigor,
relevance, and reach of science. Environmental Justice 6(1), 9–16.
Chang, S. (2013). Pilot profile: Piner High School makers. Makerspace. Retrieved from
http://makerspace.com/maker-news/pilot-profile-piner-high-school-makers, October 1, 2013.
Dougherty, D. (2012). The maker movement. Innovations 7(3), 11–14.
Fitzgerald, H.E., Burack, C., & Seifer, S.D. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of engaged scholarship:
Contemporary landscapes, future directions, Volume 1: Institutional Change. East Lansing: Michigan
State University Press.
Fitzgerald, H.E., Burack, C., & Seifer, S.D. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of engaged scholarship:
Contemporary landscapes, future directions, Volume 2: Community-campus partnerships. East Lansing:
Michigan State University Press.
Hull, G., Stornaiuolo, A., & Sahni, U. (2010). Cultural citizenship and cosmopolitan practice: Global youth
communicate online. English Education 42(4), 331–367.
Honey, M., & Kanter, D.E. (Eds.). (2013). Design, make, play: Growing the next generation of STEM
innovators. New York: Routledge.
References (continued)
Johnson, B. (2013)
Kligler-Vilenchik, N., & Shresthova, S. (2012). Learning through practice: Participatory culture civics: A case
study report working paper. Media, Activism and Participatory Politics Project Civic Paths, Annenberg School
for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Oct 2, 2012. Retrieved October 1,
2013 from http://dmlcentral.net/sites/dmlcentral/files/resource_files/learning_through_practice_kliglershresthova_oct-2-2012.pdf.
Peery, A.I., & Kolasa, K.M. (2011). Mini-med school: Developing partnerships with the community and
between health professions and students. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 4(2), 61–66.
Post, D.M., Kundt, F.S, Mehl, E., Hudson, W.A., Stone, L.C., & Banks, F.R. (2009). Twenty years of experience
in service-learning at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. Journal of Community Engagement and
Scholarship, 2(1), 18–30.
Thomas, A. (2012). Engaging students in the STEM classroom through “making.” Retrieved from
http://www.edutopia.org/user/186317, October 1, 2013.