The Ginsberg Center's mission is to engage students,
faculty, and community members in learning together
through community service and civic participation
in a diverse democratic society.

Introduction

Faculty across the University of Michigan are doing publicly engaged, innovative work in the arts, humanities and design, including research, creative projects, and teaching. Arts of Citizenship supports faculty in strengthening and expanding their public scholarship.

Public scholarship in the humanities, arts, and design, according to Nancy Cantor and Stephen Lavine, "comprises research, scholarship, or creative activity that connects directly to the work of specific public groups in specific contexts; arises from a faculty member's field of knowledge; involves a cohesive series of activities contributing to the public welfare and results in 'public good' products; is jointly planned and carried out by coequal partners; and integrates discovery, learning, and public engagement." (Nancy Cantor and Stephen D. Lavine, "Point of View: Taking Public Scholarship Seriously," Chronicle of Higher Education, June 9, 2006)

UM's many public scholars in the arts, humanities and design enrich civic life by creating public cultural goods that preserve our past, tell stories of who we are, imagine our future, and provide public space for connecting with each other. The public scholar's collaborative work is also a rich source of research material that can advance theory in the faculty member's particular field, provide the basis for creative work, and raise problems or dissonances that lead to new research questions.

To foster public scholarship, Arts of Citizenship offers a set of programs designed to:

• Bring University of Michigan faculty, staff, and students into collaboration on projects with educators, cultural and arts institutions, government, and community partners.
• Encourage teaching and pedagogical practices that link the study of culture and citizenship with experiential, practice-based learning.
• Support scholarship, creative work, and intellectual conversation that further the public roles of the arts, humanities, and design.
• Build capacity of faculty, staff, students, and community partners in to engage in sustainable collaborative endeavors that enrich curriculum, research and creative work and expand the social capital of community collaborators.

Interested? To receive updates about projects, events, workshops, conferences, and grant deadlines, click here to be added to our mailing list: kamilahh@umich.edu.

We are currently accepting applications for our grants program. Please click on the link at left for more information.