Dr. Susan Porter, Dean and Vice-Provost of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and Lianne Cho, a PhD student in the Public Scholars Initiative, were recently featured in the November issue of University Affairs magazine. Discussing the work of public scholarship, engaging with communities, and doing research for the public good, the article talks about how the PSI encourages non-traditional forms of PhD work.
“The fact is that our graduates are doing many more things than traditionally taught in the academy, and that was an important motivation for doing this: normalizing and legitimizing that.” - Dean Susan Porter
By engaging with the public, academics are building trust on behalf of their institutions within their communities. UBC graduate students such as Lianne are building trust with community partners to make a direct impact on the communities they are hoping to help. Lianne discusses her work with the Community Brain Art Initiative and the Downtown Eastside in the article, but you can also learn more about Lianne via her PSI profile.
* "The rise of public scholarship" was published in the November 2023 issue of University Affairs magazine.