The Interdisciplinary Studies Institute is delighted to present a panel discussion of great importance to the campus. The event is free and open to the public, and we invite all faculty and students to attend.
The topic. Insistent issues in higher education (affordability, accessibility, inclusion, the changing interactivities of technology) entail increasing pressures, challenges and opportunities in conducting work that is of broad relevance to society. The University’s own Strategic Planning document highlights the ways that, as a land grant and public research university, we have an obligation to serve various constituencies and communities. Engaged scholarship may have positive implications not only for the dissemination of knowledge but for our very forms of intellectual production. Yet those who undertake such work confront many difficulties, whether obtaining research funding, finding appropriate publication venues, or meeting tenure and promotion criteria. At the same time, definitions of what engagement and relevance mean may vary, quite legitimately, both within and across the disciplines. The panel, featuring members of this year’s ISI seminar on ‘Engagement,’ will highlight some of the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of engaged and interdisciplinary scholarship. The aim is to provide a thought-provoking discussion in which all who attend will be able to join.
For more information on the ISI, see www.umass.edu/isi. Funding for the ISI comes from the Provost, the Dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, and the Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.