Reaching Beyond Academia
We advance academic scholarship and teaching by guiding it toward specific impact in the world.
The Program in Public Scholarship works to establish Arts & Sciences at Washington University as a leader in translating our work and its importance to a broader audience. We develop new platforms to share our scholarship and increase our impact in the public and private sectors. To this end, we explore the translation and promotion of our scholarship in all forms and formats; partnerships with local institutions and organizations; and the development of innovative courses, internships, certificates, and degrees.
We work one-on-one with scholars, collaborate with departments and other units on campus, and run regular workshops to increase the impact of Arts & Sciences research.
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Elizabeth Carlen and Tyus Williams in The Conversation: Animals that are all black or all white have reputations based on superstition − biases that have real effects
Naomi Kim in Belt Magazine: On Picking Apples in the Lower Midwest
Last October, I went apple picking for the first time. I’d grown up in the Deep South, and now that I lived in the Midwest, I wanted a full-blown fall experience at a carnival-type farm. I wanted the pig races and the pumpkin cannon and the funnel cakes and the canned goods in the farm store. I wanted to have the experience of apple picking, but the apples? I confess: they were kind of an afterthought.
A Theory of Public Scholarly Impact
What scholars do in their research and teaching can benefit audiences beyond the academy. Whether we think about books that get widely read, essays that go viral, radio interviews shared between friends, or illuminating video appearances, scholarly work has many ways to make an impact with ripple effects that spread out farther than the campus or one’s discipline. This type of work can happen accidentally or spontaneously; but it can also become part of a scholar’s practice. And public scholarly work is increasingly recognized by institutions, professional associations, and funding agencies: For example, the National Science Foundation rewards projects that show broader impacts on society; the National Endowment for the Humanities dedicates extensive grant opportunities to public humanities projects; the American Sociological Association includes public engagement and communication in their organizational mission. Across disciplines, scholars can become versed and skilled in the arts of public impact, by learning how to focus and frame their expertise in ways that that can reach—and help—broad audiences.
A Signature Initiative
The Program in Public Scholarship is a signature initiative of the Arts & Sciences strategic plan.
Learn more about the plan