Engaged Scholarship for Social Change

1. Engaged Scholarship for Social Change It’s Not Difficult, Just Hard Randy Stoecker, NYMAPS 2014

2. It’s not difficult… • A mission statement for engaged scholarship • To build constituency power… • to create social change and work toward community… • by facilitating access to our knowledge resources, including faculty, staff, and students.

3. To build constituency power… • Constituency vs. community • Community—fictitious thought-feeling • Constituency—people experiencing common circumstances • Knowledge power • Knowledge • Power • Action • Social change capacity • Building organization: sustainable leadership, membership, structure • Deploying effective strategy

4. To create social change and work toward community… • Two forms of social change • Creating change around specific issues • Transforming the social relations of knowledge production • Reciprocity and community • Common, not separate goals • Beyond exchange relationships • My liberation is bound up with yours

5. By facilitating access to our knowledge resources • Faculty • Practice a wide range of availability-- short to long • Provide expertise and allyship, not leadership • Staff • Coordinate relationships with constituency groups and supporters • Track and coordinate engaged scholarship activities • Catalogue and connect • Students • Learn skills to do specific engaged scholarship tasks • Volunteer as a global citizen, not as a student

6. It's just hard -- diverging from dominant practices • Project-based, not hours-based • Skill-based, not volunteer-based • Outcome-based, not output-based • Change-centered, not SL/CBR-centered • Constituency targeted, not individual targeted • Commitment to the project, not the agency • Commitment to the constituency, not the agency • Focus on contributing, not leading

7. Putting it into action—in the community • Find constituency-led efforts... ...with social change goals... ...or help them develop goals... ...and identify projects... ...that can help achieve the goals. • Find higher ed resources... ...that can support the projects... ...and mobilize those resources... ...to do the projects... ...to help achieve the goals.

8. Putting it into practice--In the institution • Fund community organizers and community technical experts • Create curricular flexibility …to custom-design courses around constituency projects • Deploy a science shop strategy …to coordinate work with constituencies • Train faculty and staff …in community development, community power and popular education • Expand classroom-based education …for civics education, issue education, and training for specific projects • Change tenure and promotion criteria …to respect knowledge production that supports social change

9. Putting it into practice--In the classroom • Do projects, not hours …to help achieve constituency goals • Limit projects to whatthe prof can fully support …to support larger social change • Develop projects with the community group before class starts …to help build constituency power • Require students to apply for project work …to eliminate “required volunteerism” • Provide students with training and technical expert mentoring …so they can provide the maximum support, not the minimum

10. …Even harder than you think • Practicing allyship • Doing accuracy rather than objectivity • Being comfortable with conflict • Confronting power holders • against institutional controllers • against disciplinary dictates • Against structural power