Reflections on Public Scholarship: Afterthoughts from the Imagining America Conference in Seattle

I spent three days among some of the most innovative public scholars in the nation. From panel presentations to poster sessions, I learned of exciting academy-community partnerships, fresh approaches to the pedagogy of service learning, and the challenges faced in implementation – both in the community, and the academy. With the backdrop of recent readings for this class and my struggles as an instructor and community practitioner, I arrived at IA in hopes of learning new strategies to further my development as an engaged scholar, and perhaps refine my understanding of what public scholarship is and its potential to facilitate sustainable community development.



The sessions offered a variety of program examples, their successes and challenges. There were opportunities to discuss the integration of critical theory, reflection, scholarship, and engaged practice. I was invited to share my Mart experiences in a closed seminar on equity and mutual benefit within community-university partnerships. As with most gatherings of this kind, there were standout moments and programs that ignited and inspired – sending my brain to overdrive mode. The conversations and networking that occurred outside the sessions was as much or more valuable than the sessions themselves. The more candid discussions revealed the frustrations of doing public scholarship, meaningful service learning projects, and community engagement work in the academy, particularly R-1 universities who, in some institutions - not all, view service learning as a means of collecting data and conducting “research” rather than promote sustainable change and student learning through reciprocal and reflective practice (thanks Jen Saffron for the articulation ). We also dared to tread in the murky area of mistakes and challenges, burnout, and how hard this work really is when putting theory to practice. Simply put, this is messy stuff all the way around.



I was inspired by many of programs happening around the country in urban and rural areas, on campuses, in storefronts, with school districts, and those embedded in and directed by the community with the academy in a more peripheral relationship. IA is spearheading several innovative initiatives including a tenure initiative, and more recently a mixed method study to develop profiles of public scholars at the graduate and early career stage. (visit http://www.imaginingamerica.org/) The gathering of folks doing this work from all over the country helps with perspective, support, and generates lots of new ideas. I hope to see more of the community partners in the future. Last year in New Orleans I presented the Mart work on a panel with Stephen Sloan from Baylor University Oral History Institute and Janet Bridgewater, a Mart resident. Everyone was interested in Janet's stories and perspective – far more than Stephen’s and mine (as it should be). As with most organizations these days, IA functions on a limited budget; however, supporting residents from the communities we work in partnership with to attend is invaluable.


Stephen Sloan, Janet Bridgewater, Paula Gerstenblatt - Imagining America Conference 2009


I also think about how building sustainable communities has to include the academy and sustainable public scholarship and service learning programs built on the principals of reciprocity and reflection – not just the collection of data for research and publication in journals that most of the folks we work in communities will never read or perhaps even fail to be advanced by. This is ever present in my mind as the semester proceeds with our students in Mart and the refinement of the course for next semester and beyond. I am also giving great thought to my multiple roles and if my attempt at functioning in this capacity is way too ambitious and perhaps even impossible. The Capra piece on leadership was helpful; however, the particulars of my multiple role quandary may prevent me from being effective, therefore, I am evaluating the best course for the project, my research, and my place in Mart as extended family member. More to come on that dilemma!