"With-ness" as a Warrant: Exploring the Mutually-Transformative | Press Releases

"We deﬁne community-engaged scholarship as scholarly activities related to research and/or teaching that involve full collaboration of students, community partners, and faculty as co-educators, co-learners, and co-generators of knowledge and that address questions of public concern." -
"Community-Engaged Scholarship through Mutually Transformative Partnerships," by Jessica Katz Jameson, Patti H. Clayton and Audrey J. Jaeger

Patti H. Clayton, Ph.D., a national expert on community engagement as scholarship, will challenge the community to think beyond the "university as expert" model of engagement when she speaks at Fairfield University on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 3:30 p.m., in Gonzaga Auditorium. In what promises to be a mission-critical conversation, Clayton's keynote address - free and open to the public - will encourage attendees to grapple with a new way of looking at university involvement in and with communities.

Clayton, a senior scholar with the Center for Service and Learning at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, will explore an emerging paradigm of engaged scholarship grounded in democratic civic engagement, thick reciprocity and the co-construction of teaching, learning, and knowledge generation.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Faith and Public Life's Office of Service Learning, the Center for Academic Excellence and the Office of Academic Engagement.

Clayton is also a visiting fellow with the New England Resource Center for Higher Education, and has served as a consultant to more than 50 schools, colleges, universities, and higher education organizations. She was founding director of the Center for Excellence in Curricular Engagement at North Carolina State University and faculty fellow with National Campus Compact's Project on Integrating Service with Academic Study.

She sits on the board of directors of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. Her work focuses on building the capacity of individuals, units, institutions, and the field as a whole for scholarly community-engaged teaching and learning. Clayton has co-developed with students and faculty a leading critical reflection and assessment model (the DEAL Model for Critical Reflection), models for student leadership in service learning, and a variety of faculty development and curriculum development processes.

Clayton's speech will be followed with a reception for all participants in the lobby outside of Gonzaga Auditorium. This will be an opportunity to carry on the discussion and network with one another. All participants are strongly encouraged to read "Community Engaged Scholarship as Mutually Transformative Partnerships" in preparation for the keynote and related dialogue. Please visit http://www.fairfield.edu/cae/cae_events.html .

During her two day trip to Fairfield, Clayton will provide an overview of community engagement as scholarship and the various practices that fall under this umbrella such as the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), community-based research, service learning, participatory action research, and public scholarship.

Fairfield University faculty and staff are invited to participate in an engaging workshop on Friday, February 11, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, which will build on the discussions inspired by Clayton's keynote address. Entitled, "Community Engagement As Scholarship Workshop," it will take place in the Kelley Presentation Room. Please register at http://data.fairfield.edu/academic/cae/register/index.lasso .