What is community-engaged scholarship (CES)?
CES is a transdisciplinary field that connects academic teaching and research with community knowledge and practice.
“Community-engaged scholarship encompasses mutually beneficial partnerships between universities and communities that seek to collaboratively develop and apply knowledge to address consequential public issues in our democracy.”
-Cynthia Gordon da Cruz. “Community-Engaged Scholarship: Toward a Shared Understanding of Practice.” The Review of Higher Education, Volume 41, Number 2, Winter 2018, pp.147-167
The Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) supports academic courses and research collaborations grounded in Princeton's commitment to research and education that benefit humanity. ProCES fosters relationships that bring community-identified priorities and interests into conversation with academic learning goals through experiential learning, including: community-based research, empirical analysis, service learning, citizen science, participant observation, public humanities, practicing arts, and other collaborative modalities and methods of knowledge co-creation. Our main program areas include:
- Support for 80+ ProCES-designated courses during the academic year through community partnership cultivation, experiential learning course enhancements, and faculty development;
- The Derian Summer Internship Program, a faculty-mentored and community-informed research internship supporting collaborations between faculty, undergraduate interns, and community experts;
- Funding and support for community-engaged independent and thesis research and the Dean Hank Dobin Prize in Community-Based Independent Work;
- Partnership with the Pace Center for Civic Engagement to support the integration of academic and co-curricular community-based learning through Service Focus, a university program that connects service and learning for students during their sophomore year.
ProCES programming is open to all eligible participants, regardless of identity, beliefs, or other protected characteristics.
Announcements
The Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) awards the Dean Hank Dobin Prize in Community-Engaged Independent Work to students whose outstanding thesis and accompanying short translational report has the potential to impact communities, whether through extensive research, policy recommendations, or new…
The culminating event of the project, “Baldwin in New Jersey: An Immersive Humanistic Experience,” was a collaboration with the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship and the Princeton Public Library.
The packed gathering, which was part of the humanities-focused U.S. Being Human Festival, featured…
for Faculty
Community-engaged teaching enhances student learning through engagement with diverse perspectives, helping to communicate disciplinary knowledge to the broader public, and equipping students to be service-oriented scholars and leaders. ProCES resources support faculty in teaching community-engaged courses across disciplines.
for Students
From your first semester at Princeton through your senior thesis, ProCES can help you connect your academic pursuits with community experience through community-engaged courses, internships, and funding for community-based independent research.
for Community Partners
ProCES works with non-profit, NGO, and public sector partners locally in Princeton and greater Mercer County, regionally, and globally to help advance community-identified priorities and provide meaningful learning experiences for Princeton students.