Engaged Scholarship
As an office of the Dean of the College, the Swearer Center’s work is driven by Brown’s curricular philosophy, which seeks to build students’ knowledge of a range of academic disciplines, capacity for self-reflection and empathy, and ability to examine and articulate their moral convictions. We also believe that the intellectual resources of the university can be a unique and powerful asset for the community and that community knowledge can enrich the intellectual enterprise of the university.
The Center works with Brown faculty in a range of ways to advance teaching, research and scholarship: strengthening students’ understanding and abilities as outlined in the curricular goals; and supporting efforts to extend the expertise and skill of faculty and students to benefit local and global communities.
The Engaged Scholars initiative is an opportunity to celebrate, support, and strengthen the experiences of faculty and students who seek a purposeful integration of teaching, research and practice with a goal of advancing scholarship and producing a public benefit. The initiative supports the university’s mission of creating knowledge and “producing graduates committed to a life of usefulness and purpose” by identifying faculty exemplars who, through a unique alignment of research, teaching and practice are informing and shaping public discourse on a range of issues. The initiative seeks to advance goals on a number of levels:
Students have many opportunities to learn the reasoning of a philosopher, the strengths and weaknesses of an empress, and the techniques of a well-published botanist – but an equal intellectual challenge exists in understanding the mindset of a neighbor, the motivations of a manager, and the stubbornness of a colleague.
- Provide resources and support for individual faculty teaching and research;
- Develop and support a community of scholars at Brown engaged with this work;
- Recognize and expand engaged scholarship across campus; and
- Contribute to the national practice of engaged scholarship.
Engaged Research
Knowledge can find significant landing points in communities. I appreciate theory but research and information generate the political will to change. --Patrick McGuigan, Professor of Public Policy
Community-engaged research enables faculty to strengthen the links between research and practice and enhance translational results. To practice community-engaged research, one needs to reflect upon the relationship of research and researchers to communities. In a classroom context, students learn research methodology while serving as advocates for communities and the issues important to communities.
The Providence community faces many of the challenges common to urban areas across the country, many of which are the focus of Brown faculty research. Engaging in community-based research can advance knowledge in the field as well as provide data helpful to the community.
Engaged Teaching
While the scholarship of teaching tends to be undervalued in the faculty reward system, research universities are well positioned to promote and advance new forms of scholarship that connect and deploy the intellectual assets of the academy to impact public issues. This is particularly true at Brown, where imaginative and courageous faculty are innovating in both the classroom and the discipline while providing valuable services to communities.
There are many avenues for faculty to support students with an interest in community issues:
- Offering courses that deal with the context of community and societal issues or directly engage students in the community.
- Engaging students in your community based research projects.
- Sponsoring Independent Studies or Group Independent Studies through which students investigate a particular issue.
- Serving as an advisor through regular academic advising, as a UCAAP advisor, or by informally advising students on how they might engage in the community and integrate their community interests with courses, concentrations, and careers.
- Serving as a faculty sponsor for student fellowships such as the Royce and Swearer Fellowships that support students pursuing work on a particular community or societal issue.