Research
In the “new academy,” scholars and artists at colleges and universities increasingly engage in public scholarship that contributes to the public good. Leaving their campuses to collaborate with their communities, they are dedicated to engendering and enhancing freedom of inquiry—not merely as an intellectual exercise but as a lived imperative—and to addressing, illuminating, and alleviating the pressing social issues of our times. This new public scholarship encourages discovery and creativity, and it contributes to an understanding of democracy's twenty-first century challenges, as well as its responsibilities in a global society.
The goal of public scholarship and the research practices that sustain it is to empower students and other citizens in the work of democracy. Publicly engaged academic work is a movement towards “experts on tap, not on top.” In this research model, faculty learn, develop, and change their institutions and professions; they create coalitions and working groups that include publicly engaged students, administrators, and staff in dialogue with off-campus collaborators and allies. This network of public researchers not only conducts engaged research that is of value to the whole community, but it also builds a collective capacity to act on its findings, applying real solutions to real-world challenges.