What is a 'Community of Practice'?
Ginsberg Center Communities of Practice (CoP) offer faculty and staff a semester-long cohort experience focused on interdisciplinary exchange and deeper discussion of community engagement (CE) in practice. Through discussion, activities, building relationships, and sharing resources, participants develop skills, knowledge and connections to advance their CE work at U-M and beyond.
Participants commit to attend all scheduled meetings and complete light preparation in advance of each meeting. Participants are welcome to apply for a CoP in concurrent semesters to continue their cohort experience across the academic year. The CoP focus varies each term.
2023-2024 Communities of Practice
This community of practice focuses on building a robust consciousness of power relationships in university-community partnerships. Participants will encounter foundational concepts in equity-focused community engagement and share perspectives on the ways that power relationships share community engaged research, teaching, and partnerships.
This cohort experience is designed especially for those new to community engagement and early career practitioners. Experienced participants may also join to build relationships and share perspectives.
- Open to faculty (tenured, tenure-track, lecturers), admin, staff and post-docs
- Participants must be able to attend all four sessions in Fall 2023:
- Friday, Sept 29th - 10am-11:30am (in person)
- Friday, Oct 6th - 10am-11:30am (on Zoom)
- Friday, Oct 20th - 10am-11:30am (on Zoom)
- Friday, Nov 10th - 10am-11:30am (in person)
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To apply for the Fall 2023 cohort, please complete the Application Form by Friday, Sept 8th.
This community of practice explores critical issues in the preparation of undergraduate and graduate students for community engagement (CE). What skills and competencies might we be responsible for developing in our students before they interact with communities through our teaching, research, and programs? How will we support our students in developing skills through CE experiences while honoring the priorities, labor, and knowledge of local communities?
Participants will explore key principles for preparing students for CE and share strategies for making your commitments to community partners legible to your students and in your plans.
- Open to faculty (tenured, tenure-track, lecturers), admin, staff, and post-docs
- Participants must be able to attend all four meetings dates in Winter 2024
- Friday, February 2 - 10-11:30am (in person)
- Friday, February 16 - 10-11:30am (Zoom)
- Friday, March 15 - 10-11:30am (Zoom)
- Friday, April 12 - 10-11:30am (in person)
- To apply for the Winter 2024 Cohort, please complete the Application Form by Friday, January 19 2024.
- Dedicated time to reflect, learn and further develop your community-engaged pedagogy, program planning and research practices
- Develop interdisciplinary connections with community-engaged colleagues
- Share resources, address challenges, receive feedback & offer strategies
- Prepare for and deepen your community partnerships with Ginsberg Center support
- Discuss critical issues in the practice of community-engagement at Michigan, including the dynamics between U-M and communities in SE Michigan, Washtenaw County and Detroit.
- Access support from Ginsberg staff around community-match-making, course or program design, data and evaluation, and publishing CE scholarship
- Join a cohort community for participants to develop connections and to build off of prior discussions in meaningful ways.
- Become a Ginsberg affiliate, a trusted Ginsberg partner with opportunities to advise and participate in future Ginsberg programming and gain recognition through awards and storytelling.
Read about faculty and staff from across the university who have participated in our community of practice cohorts.
How to Join
- To apply, complete the application form by these deadlines:
- Friday Sept 8th, 2023 for the Fall 2023 cohort
- Friday, January 19th 2024 for the Winter 2024 cohort - Application Form
- For questions about this program or the application, [email protected]
