Envisioning Public Scholarship for Our Time

Envisioning Public Scholarship for Our Time: Models for Higher Education Researchers is an excellent resource for Ed.D. program faculty and administrators who are committed to developing scholarly practitioners. Doctoral students will benefit from having this book as required reading in their initial research course as it describes the value of scholarship and the significant impact various forms of public scholarship can make in terms of social justice and equity. Kezar et al. (2018) promote activism by sharing numerous examples of public scholarship, including their own, and outlining several paths for how researchers can engage in public scholarship to impact policy and practice in higher education.

Overall, Envisioning Public Scholarship for Our Time: Models for Higher Education Researchers is an inspiring fresh look at how scholars can use their talents for the greater good. It challenges faculty, administrators, and students to become an activist through public scholarship. The rich, meaningful examples shared throughout the book are sure to provide readers with many suggestions and ideas about how to engage in public scholarship. Two areas that were addressed, but need further attention, are how can colleges and universities modify reward structures so that public scholarship is highly valued, and what strategies will assist faculty and students who face challenges when shifting toward a more public scholarship framework. I would strongly recommend that faculty use this as a primary text in the first research course in doctoral programs, especially programs committed to the scholarly practitioner framework.

Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Professional Practice

In Envisioning Public Scholarship, scholars offer accounts of why and how our social science research can be conducted for the democratic good. In the spirit of John Dewey’s democratic ethics, scholars in these pages organize and operationalize democratic equity as both means and ends of research. “Public scholarship” is not the old century’s call for educating policy makers. Rather, this clarion’s call is a millennial one—research as democratic activism, boldly presented and timely, indeed.

Ana Martinez-Aleman, Professor, Lynch School of Education

Boston College

"As educators, this book reminds us of our shared responsibility to contribute, and more importantly, to be in service to the public good. Every emerging and current scholar should read this book with this question in mind: How will my work embody the definition of public scholarship as connected to a diverse democracy, equity, and an avenue for social justice? The answer has the potential to reshape how we conduct research and how we prepare future scholars."

Tia McNair, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Student Success

Association of American Colleges & Universities

"Kezar, Drivalas, and Kitchen’s Envisioning Public Scholarship is an extremely helpful and timely book. As scholars consider strategies to translate research and scholarship for policymakers and local/national communities, Envisioning, is a long overdue resource. Each contributor’s perspective deepens readers’ consideration of how research can be more accessible to diverse audiences within and beyond the academy. Envisioning, is integral for helping to concretize the idea of higher education as a public good."

Lori D. Patton, Professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs

Indiana University School of Education

"Envisioning Public Scholarship encourages scholars to engage the urgent problems of the communities in which they live, not simply by offering expertise, but also by cultivating authentic relationships, reciprocal learning, and improved writing and communication skills. The complexity and contradictions of community life make public scholarship difficult, but this book persuasively argues that it is both essential for social progress and a pathway to a more meaningful and consequential scholarly life."

Paul E. Lingenfelter, President Emeritus, State Higher Education Executive Officers. Author of: “Proof,” Policy, and Practice: Understanding the Role of Evidence in Improving Education

"Envisioning Public Scholarship for Our Time: Models for Higher Education Researchers, edited by Adrianna Kezar, Yianna Drivalas, and Joseph A. Kitchen, is a timely and important contribution. It updates how higher education and social science researchers can meaningfully inform and participate in national and community issues and policies. This sentiment is averred in the Foreword and throughout the volume in light of the historical and emerging societal issues and the tenuous influence of research-based knowledge among decision makers.

Envisioning Public Scholarship for Our Time: Models for Higher Education Researchers is an engaging, varied, and interesting read. As you read each chapter, the autobiography and first-hand accounts of the authors make the stories and elaborations of public scholarship quite lively and relatable. The sheer variability of each chapter is definitely a strength of this volume. Another strength throughout the chapters is the willingness of the authors to explicitly state that engaging in public scholarship is not easy, often not supported by the structures of higher education, and may leave one feeling vulnerable. Some of this vulnerability is because most of the authors were not trained explicitly for public scholarship but instead had to learn on the ground and by reflecting on their missteps along the way.

The engaging nature of the volume and the explicit details on the methods and avenues of public scholarship make this book ideal for a number of purposes. These include but are not limited to graduate courses in theory, methods, and substantive higher education issues, as well as faculty workshops and development programs. More informally, this volume can add to a faculty member’s understanding of the ways in which their traditional responsibilities can be construed and executed."

Teachers College Record