The interdisciplinary graduate certificate program in Publicly Engaged Scholarship (PES) is offered by the School of Liberal Arts in collaboration with the Center for Public Service. Publicly engaged scholarship is understood broadly and encompasses a variety of approaches including participatory action research, collaborative scholarship, and public advocacy. The program’s goal is to provide graduate students with a distinctive educational experience that allows them to connect their graduate studies with the public outside of academia.
Applicants to the PES program must be graduate students in the School of Liberal Arts. First-year MA and MFA students are eligible to apply as are first- and second-year students in Ph.D. programs (4+1 students are not eligible).
Elements of the Publicly Engaged Scholarship Program:
- Twelve graduate students are selected every other year to form a cohort along with three community leaders and three faculty members, who serve as mentors and co-educators.
- Cohort members build robust relationships over three semesters of monthly dinners starting in the Spring semester of Year 1. During these gatherings, graduate students discuss every step in the development of their publicly engaged projects.
- During each of those three semesters students also take one-credit courses that focus on publicly engaged project development, project proposals, and project portfolios.
- Graduate students’ publicly engaged projects develop over time, resonate with their personal and scholarly interests, and are grounded in sustained collaborations with community partners and/or faculty members.
- In the fall semester before the program begins or in the fall during the program, students take Community-Engaged Research Methods (SOCI 7110; 3 credits).
- In the spring semester, students take Public-Facing Scholarship (SOCI 7120; 3 credits).
- Students complete the PES Graduate Certificate Program in two years and earn nine credit hours, which are spaced out to prevent delaying time to degree.
- Publicly Engaged Scholarship Graduate Certificate Program participants receive $1500 stipends each semester (in addition to any departmental stipends they may be receiving) and can apply for up to $3000 to fund their publicly engaged projects.
Please reach out to Ryan McBride at rmcbride@tulane.edu with any questions.