Call for Abstracts: Consortium for Public Scholars

Posted by Penn State University on August 7, 2017

A colloquium to establish The Consortium for Public Scholars

Call for Abstracts | Due: September 1, 2017

This is a call for abstracts (500 words or less) to share your work in public scholarship at a colloquium held October 12 – 13, 2017 at the Penn State Center Philadelphia. This colloquium is being hosted by several public scholars across institutions in the Philadelphia region, and we are asking you to consider working with us to expand this work to develop The Consortium for Public Scholars. This call is open to university professionals, community professionals, community residents, and advanced high school, undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in the Philadelphia region.

Public scholarship refers to knowledge generation and transfer initiatives developed and conducted with and for the public. When engaged in such endeavors, both local and expert knowledge is appreciated and utilized to develop a more nuanced understanding of an issue for public benefit. This paradigm challenges higher education professionals to see their work for the university as embedded parts of external systems in which their skills, knowledge, and resources are insufficient without the skills, knowledge, and resources of local community members. It also requires community professionals and residents to examine their role in their communities, exploring how they can meld their expertise and experience to address public issues. Public scholarship products reflect a critical, discursive, dialogic perspective that tethers knowledge with action; encourages local results with an eye toward broader application; and requires sharing of both knowledge and process in ways that are publicly accessible in terms of language and distribution.

While initiatives exist that bind together individuals who are dedicated to outreach and/or engagement, there are relatively few opportunities for all types of public scholars to collaborate and share knowledge across disciplines, interest areas, and categories of work. This colloquium aims to address this concern by developing a consortium of public scholars across institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, private businesses, and the community in the Philadelphia region. We use the term scholar broadly to include any individual interested in sharing their knowledge of their work in addressing public issues, not only those involved in academia. If this is you, we hope that you will participate. The organizing purpose of this colloquium is to share examples of best practices for public scholarship, and co-develop a path forward for the consortium.

Your abstract should reflect your work and could include:
• Philosophical perspectives on public scholarship/Public scholarship as philosophy
• Political perspectives on public scholarship/Public scholarship as politics
• The practice of public scholarship/Public scholars as civic professionals/ Public scholarship as a way of being
• Public scholarship practice stories from the field
• Public scholarship and societal issues
• Educating public scholars and civic professionals

Abstracts for Presentation Papers should be no more than 500 words; please, no citations. If selected by the organizing committee comprised of public scholars from the Philadelphia region, you will be asked to prepare a paper for sharing with the attendees of the colloquium and a 15 minute presentation on your paper. We aim to develop a published proceedings, therefore your paper should not be previously published material. Papers will be due October 1, 2017.

Students are being asked to participate in a poster sharing session during the colloquium, where you will represent your public scholarship in a visual format on a printed poster. Advanced high school, undergraduate, and graduate and professional students are encouraged to participate. Abstracts for Student Poster Presentations should be no more than 500 words; please, no citations. If selected by the organizing committee comprised of public scholars from the Philadelphia region, you will be asked to prepare a poster for sharing with the attendees of the colloquium. We aim to develop a published proceedings, therefore your paper, abstract, or poster should not be previously published material; your abstract for your poster will be included in the proceedings. Posters should be 36 inches tall by 48 inches wide. Posters will be due by October 1, 2017, and we will have them printed and transported to the Penn State Center. If your poster is not finished by October 1, you will be responsible for printing it and bringing it to the Penn State Center.

Abstracts for papers are due September 1, 2017. Abstracts for student posters are due September 1, 2017. Please submit your abstracts to: consortiumforpublicscholars@gmail.com.

Information on registration and schedule may be found here: http://www.cvent.com/d/25qgdc