Town & Gown: Foundations of Community-Engaged Scholarship

In this session, participants finalize their capstone project partnerships and develop future project plans. Community partner representatives join the cohort for collaborative design sessions, working side-by-side with graduate students to co-create potential projects that address authentic organizational needs while advancing student learning objectives.

The Community-Engaged Scholarship Learning Cohort prepares Princeton graduate students to work effectively with nonprofit organizations through an interdisciplinary, experiential program that bridges academic expertise with community impact. Over eight sessions, participants will develop frameworks for ethical partnership, learn practical skills in nonprofit collaboration, and complete capstone projects with organizations that have a social impact mission.

This cohort synthesizes best practices from leading community-engaged scholarship programs nationwide—including Tulane's Mellon Graduate Program, the University of Michigan's Rackham Program in Public Scholarship, Rutgers' Public Humanities Initiative, and Princeton’s Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship—adapted to the unique resources of the Princeton ecosystem and the rich cultural landscape of greater Mercer County, and the state of New Jersey.

Session 5

In this pivotal session, participants finalize their capstone project partnerships and develop detailed project plans. Community partner representatives join the cohort for collaborative design sessions, working side-by-side with graduate students to co-create projects that address authentic organizational needs while advancing student learning objectives.

The Community-Engaged Scholarship Learning Cohort prepares Princeton graduate students to work effectively with nonprofit organizations through an interdisciplinary, experiential program that bridges academic expertise with community impact. Over eight sessions, participants will develop frameworks for ethical partnership, learn practical skills in nonprofit collaboration, and complete capstone projects with organizations that have a social impact mission.
This cohort synthesizes best practices from leading community-engaged scholarship programs nationwide—including Tulane's Mellon Graduate Program, the University of Michigan's Rackham Program in Public Scholarship, Rutgers' Public Humanities Initiative, and Princeton’s Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship—adapted to the unique resources of the Princeton ecosystem and the rich cultural landscape of greater Mercer County, and the state of New Jersey.

Session 4:
​​​​​​​This session provides an immersive introduction to the operational realities of nonprofit organizations. A panel(including Carin Bercowitz, Executive Director of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, Isabel Kasdin '14, Executive Director of NJ Cultural Trust, Skyler Gordon *24, Project Manager, Truth and Repair, and Liz Lempert, former mayor of Princeton, board member for a range of nonprofits and now Assistant Director in Princeton's Research Development Office)  will share insights on governance, funding models, programming decisions, and the unique challenges facing small-to-mid-sized cultural institutions. Participants will gain fluency in the language and logic of nonprofit management.
Key Topics
•       Nonprofit organizational structure: Boards, staff, volunteers
•       Revenue models: Earned income, grants, individual giving, government support
•       Mission-driven decision making and strategic planning
•       The nonprofit landscape in New Jersey
•       What organizations need—and what they don't need—from academic partners

The Community-Engaged Scholarship Learning Cohort prepares Princeton graduate students to work effectively with nonprofit organizations through an interdisciplinary, experiential program that bridges academic expertise with community impact. Over eight sessions, participants will develop frameworks for ethical partnership, learn practical skills in nonprofit collaboration, and complete capstone projects with organizations that have a social impact mission.
This cohort synthesizes best practices from leading community-engaged scholarship programs nationwide—including Tulane's Mellon Graduate Program, the University of Michigan's Rackham Program in Public Scholarship, Rutgers' Public Humanities Initiative, and Princeton’s Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship—adapted to the unique resources of the Princeton ecosystem and the rich cultural landscape of greater Mercer County, and the state of New Jersey.

Session 3:
​​​​​​​Community-engaged work requires careful attention to ethics, power dynamics, and personal positionality. This session examines what can go wrong in university-community partnerships and how to prevent extractive or harmful relationships. Participants will develop skills in recognizing their own positionality and practice trauma-informed approaches to community work.
Key Topics
•       Case studies: When community engagement goes wrong
•       IRB considerations for community-engaged research
•       Positionality mapping: Understanding your identity in partnership contexts
•       Trauma-informed approaches to community partnership
•       Navigating institutional power differentials ("Princeton and the community")

The Community-Engaged Scholarship Learning Cohort prepares Princeton graduate students to work effectively with nonprofit organizations through an interdisciplinary, experiential program that bridges academic expertise with community impact. Over eight sessions, participants will develop frameworks for ethical partnership, learn practical skills in nonprofit collaboration, and complete capstone projects with organizations that have a social impact mission.
This cohort synthesizes best practices from leading community-engaged scholarship programs nationwide—including Tulane's Mellon Graduate Program, the University of Michigan's Rackham Program in Public Scholarship, Rutgers' Public Humanities Initiative, and Princeton’s Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship—adapted to the unique resources of the Princeton ecosystem and the rich cultural landscape of greater Mercer County, and the state of New Jersey.

Session 2

GradFUTURES externships provide Princeton doctoral students with short-term, shadowing opportunities to explore diverse career paths and professions within and beyond academia. Leveraging the Graduate School’s graduate alumni network and existing partnerships, these unpaid externships provide Ph.D. students with concise, high-impact exposure to organizational leadership, culture, and strategic operations through mentored shadowing experiences with leadership at partner organizations across the nonprofit, public, private, and academic sectors.
During an externship, externs will shadow senior leaders and Ph.D. professionals to learn about their day-to-day responsibilities and the organization's strategic goals. The extern will gain firsthand insights into the skills and expertise they utilize, the decision-making processes they oversee or are involved in, their interactions with staff, other teams, and stakeholders, as well as their primary contributions to the organization's mission. When possible, the extern may attend meetings, conferences, and other industry events sponsored by the host organization.

Series Overview:The Community-Engaged Scholarship Learning Cohort prepares Princeton graduate students to work effectively with nonprofit organizations through an interdisciplinary, experiential program that bridges academic expertise with community impact. Over eight sessions, participants will develop frameworks for ethical partnership, learn practical skills in nonprofit collaboration, and complete capstone projects with organizations that have a social impact mission.
This cohort synthesizes best practices from leading community-engaged scholarship programs nationwide—including Tulane's Mellon Graduate Program, the University of Michigan's Rackham Program in Public Scholarship, Rutgers' Public Humanities Initiative, and Princeton’s Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship—adapted to the unique resources of the Princeton ecosystem and the rich cultural landscape of greater Mercer County, and the state of New Jersey.