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On October 2, 2011, The Chronicle of Higher Education published “Syracuse’s Slide,” critiquing the merit of Syracuse University’s vision, Scholarship in Action, which promotes and acknowledges the importance of publicly engaged scholarship. As graduate students at Syracuse University, we actively contest the article’s suggestion that engagement stands in opposition to rigor. This is our response.
Dear Editor,
We are: Syracuse’s Rise….
We are graduate students at Syracuse University writing to take a stand against Robin Wilson’s unfair and one-sided critique of Syracuse University’s mission of publicly engaged scholarship, Scholarship in Action, in her “Syracuse’s Slide” article publicly published on October 2, 2011. We write to share our stories of engaged research, teaching, learning, and civic life as citizens of Syracuse, New York and students enrolled at Syracuse University. Far from experiencing or perceiving a decrease in the rigor of our educational experience, we acknowledge what a privilege it is to grow in our disciplines through sharing and co-creating knowledge with diverse and valuable communities. In response to your article, one graduate student within our network posted the article on Facebook expressing outrage and dismay that work with, by and for publics could be labeled as a “lack of commitment to significant scholarly work.” This may have been the spark out of which an alliance grew with the collective sense to speak back and express our belief that engaged scholarship powerfully adds to our academic experience, combats the out of date “Ivory Tower” metaphor, and rigorously contributes to our academic community.
We embrace engaged scholarship, the building of knowledge that is inseparable from practice. The inclusion of historically underrepresented students does not detract from our ability to recruit or to remain competitive. It contributes to a robust and dynamic learning environment where multiple perspectives and voices expand our notions of what is knowable. Public scholarship is important to us because it mobilizes community and campus resources, brilliance, and creativity.
We view community constituents as our research partners in the knowledge laboratory. This breathes life into the experience – it gives the work a richness and meaning and purpose. The idea that we should not engage the local community in a collaborative effort in creating social change while simultaneously being rigorously challenged academically creates a false dichotomy that does not allow room for the academy to grow.
Our engaged praxis informs our collective understanding of working and writing for change, building meaningful relationships between the university and the community, and perhaps most importantly, including a wider range of perspectives and voices in making knowledge. Relevant and responsible scholarship does not and should not happen in a vacuum. Like the professors Ms. Wilson interviewed, we do feel a commitment to the “broader academic community.” However, we do not see this commitment as something in opposition to publicly engaged work.
Publicly engaged scholarship should be rigorously reviewed within a continuum of knowledge-making practices, so we participate in national organizations – like Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life based at Syracuse University – that develop standards of excellence for publicly engaged scholarship. We strive to be accountable to both academic and community stakeholders.
We are proud to be a part of a university whose commitment to engaged scholarship is unwavering.
We are engaged scholars. We are presenters at national research conferences. We are participants in think tanks. We are published scholars. We are students of color. We are partners on the Near West Side on the Gifford Street Community Press. We are participants in the school and community arts initiative at 601 Tully. We are allies of First Nation students. We are advocates who recognize the significance and value of our geographic location on Haudenosaunee Land. We are the Haudenosaunee Promise Program, working to include native students in a predominately White institution. We are disability activists. We are activist writers. We are creative writers who partner with veterans. We are tutors at the GED tutoring program at Auburn prison. We are QuERI- Arts in Action, encouraging and supporting LGBTQ&A students’ under-represented voices throughout Central New York. We are Intergroup Dialogue facilitators partnering with civically active urban high school students. We are the SmartKids-Visual Stories project, and we believe students offer insight into school reform. We are international students who choose not to ignore the community surrounding our university. We are partners working with local immigrant rights groups and religious organizations. We are the Central New York chapter of Imagining America’s Publicly Active Graduate Education (PAGE). We are working-class students, studying and working to combat oppression, exploitation, and war. We are teachers and tutors of a diverse constituency of high school students enrolled in our highly competitive Summer College. We are researchers driven by social change who insist on conducting research with not on communities of color as a way of positively impacting society. We are Scholars in Action….
We are: Amanda Leigh Alger Juliann Anesi Carolina Arango-Vargas Janet Armentor-Cota Jessica Bacon Brian Baillie Mitul Baruah Andrew Bennett Jennifer Billinson Tammy Bluewolf-Kennedy Afua Boahene Sivan Bomze Kenisha Burke Jeffrey Carroll Tina Catania Hayley Marama Cavino Anthony Chefalo Danielle M. Cowley Florence Di Gennaro Tim Dougherty Carrie F. Elliot Fatima Espinoza Tracy Feocco Chantell Frazier Derek Ford TJ Geiger II Peter Gerlach Kristing Goble Crista Gray Soumitree Gupta Jamie Haft Samantha Harmon Jessica Hausauer Anna Hensley Meghan Hinkley-Forcier David James Kathleen Janas Hennigan Amanda Johnson Joy Mutare Fashu Kanu Emily Kaufman Ivy Kleinbart Nilus Klingel Benjamin Darnell Kuebrich Bridget Lennae Lawson Justin Lewis Meredith Madden Kathie Maniaci Nathan Matise Elizabeth Metcalf Sarah Miraglia Jackie Micieli-Voutsinas Erica Paige Monnin Liz Mount A. Wendy Nastasi Kate Navickas Janine Nieroda Nicole Nguyen Yasmin Ortiga Fernanda Orsati Lindsay Pasarin Yvonne Alyce Perez Lopez Tracy Lynn Peterchak Bethany Piraino Heidi Pitzer Kaity Maureen Price Eric Robinson LaToya Sawyer Don Sawyer Sally Sayles-Hannon Matthew J. Shaler Lauren Shallish Rachel Shapiro Carlo Sica Katherine Sieger Jermaine Soto Sivilay Steven Somchanhmavong Blair Ebony Smith Melissa Smith Danielle Sutton Avery Brooks Tompkins Rebecca Wang Missy Watson Staci Weber Thomas West Bernadette Marie White Emily Williams John WolfWe welcome comments on this page and the addition of names of graduate students who wish to sign our letter,. We are happy to post as pages your narratives of why engaged scholarship matters to graduate students at Syracuse University.
For an additional response to the Chronicle article, follow Peter Levine.
The Chronicle’s editorial director, Jeff Selingo, wrote this blog in support of universities engaging their local contexts.
Eric Hoover of the Chronicle wrote this article on Syracuse’s admissions policy representing a “Surge.”
Campus Compact response.
The Anchor Institution Task Force response.
Response by founding director emerita of Imagining America Julie Ellison.
Principal Anthony Broh argues that Syracuse’s growth and diversity is a success.
Syracuse’s African American studies professors are “disappointed” by Wilson’s one-side article.
Abigail Stewart, Lawrence Bobo, David Winter, and Claude Steele highlight Cantor’s innovative vision.
Imagining America’s National Advisory Board’s response.
Syracuse’s Rise by A. Wendy Nastasi & Nicole Nguyen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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