Stanford’s vision calls on the university to pursue research and creative activity that accelerates solutions to the world’s most pressing problems and there are many efforts on campus that engage graduate students in carrying out this kind of problem-focused scholarship. Join us to learn from leading scholars about different approaches to community-engaged scholarship and how you can develop a research agenda that addresses the priorities and needs of the broader community.

The Carnegie Foundation defines community engagement as “the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger community for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.” A number of research efforts at Stanford carry out community-engaged scholarship on issues including climate change, public health, poverty, implicit bias, policing, and incarceration, among many others. The goal of this course is to expose graduate students to the various forms of community engaged scholarship and how you can integrate these approaches into your own research efforts. Each session will involve scholars from across campus, and by the end of the week, participants will draft a brief research memo to guide their next steps. Partners may include the Law School’s Policy Lab, the Haas Center for Public Service, the GSE’s Research-Practice Partnership program, Stanford Impact Labs, and the Office of Community Engagement in the School of Medicine, and representatives of local community-based organizations, among others.

Students will learn about the foundations of community-engaged research and develop skills for putting it into practice. This involves forming a successful community partnership, co-designing research questions and methods, collaborative data analysis and publication, the ethics of engagement, and leveraging different types of scholarly products to influence policy and strengthen communities. The course will also provide opportunities for students to network with each other, as well as with speakers, in order to build a larger community of engaged scholars on campus.

Course Schedule

Monday, Sept. 8 – Friday, Sept. 12, 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM

• Full attendance is expected.
• Students should expect 0-2 hours of work per day outside of class, such as reading an article or drafting their research memo.