This project created an educational framework to support students, in particular students of the humanities, in doing research with external stakeholders as part of research internships or thesis projects. Engaging in such projects allows students to exercise a broad range of academic, personal and cultural skills in the broader civic community, and reflect on contributions that they can make through their academic disciplines to society, locally as well as globally.

The videos below show examples of student experiences with such projects:

Background

Traditional education in the humanities underscores the intrinsic value of understanding the products and outcomes of human thought and creativity, but often gives less explicit attention for the potential of humanities research for social impact. Despite strong intellectual preparation, students of the humanities can feel uncertain about the role that they can play in addressing societal and global challenges. Stepping out of the classroom and applying their knowledge directly to real-world problems can give students a deeper understanding of the societal relevance of their fields, but the demands placed on degree programmes, as well as on individual teachers, can make it difficult to provide education that facilitates this kind of engagement.

Project description

This project drew on principles of community-based research to develop an educational framework that lowers the threshold for engaging students in research that involves collaboration with societal stakeholders. Community-based research emphasises including stakeholders as partners in research; it is a transdisciplinary approach that can be employed in a wide range of contexts (Winter, 1996; Strand et al., 2003; Hartwig et al., 2006; Hall et al., 2013; Beckman and Long, 2016; Caine and Mill, 2016; Goddard et al., 2016). Two areas of potential inspired the project. The first is the potential that participating in engaged research has for creating transformative learning experiences (Masirow, 1991; Cranton, 1994; Akkerman and Bakker, 2011) and the educational benefits that come with these. The second is the potential that engaged research offers as a response to the perceived crisis in the humanities (e.g., Martinelli, 2016) in the context of increasing emphasis on societal impact within the discourse about higher education more broadly (e.g., Hall et al., 2013).

Aims

The project had several broad aims:

• To facilitate students in exercising a range of academic, personal and cultural skills, including ‘21st Century Skills’ like communication, cooperation, creativity and problem-solving, through research with the broader civic community;
• To foster interdisciplinary collaboration of students and faculty members through involvement in research with stakeholders, and creation of an educational framework that supports this;
• To foster reflection on the contributions that humanities students can make to just and sustainable societies, locally as well as globally;
• To support outreach and connection with diversity in Utrecht and surrounding communities.

Outcomes

The project developed several educational components for the framework and provided for multiple outreach outcomes. The educational components in the project include

Outreach outcomes of the project include:

• Public Meet & Greet events for connecting stakeholders with students (on location and online during the pandemic)
• Two public events for sharing outcomes of community-engaged projects (on location)
• A film triptych highlighting student experiences with the BA course and their community-based projects.
• Project website  and social media campaign to share information about student research projects and raise awareness about opportunities for student-stakeholder collaborations.

Read more

• Ballantyne, J. and Smit, K. (3 December 2021).  Community Based Research. De relevantie van samenwerking met maatschappelijke partners voor studenten die onderzoek doen. Tijdschrift Onderzoek voor Onderwijs, Themanummer: Integratieve, hybride leersituaties.
• Veenstra, F. (2020) For what it’s worth: Identifying the next step in research on the value of the humanities. Research report.
• Project website: Information for teachers
• Project website: Overall

References

• Akkerman, S. and Bakker, A. (2011). Boundary crossing and boundary objects. Review of Educational Research, 81 (2), pp. 132-169.
• Beckman, M and Long, J.G., eds. (2016) Community-Based Research. Teaching for Community Impact.  Stirling Publishing, VA.
• Caine, V. and Mill, J. (2016). Essentials of Community-based Research.  Taylor and Francis, Abingdon/Oxon, UK.
• Cranton, P. (1994). Understanding and Promoting Transformative Learning: A Guide for Educators of Adults. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
• Goddard, J., Hazelkorn, E., Kampton, L. Vallance P., eds. (2016) The Civic University. The Policy and Leadership Challenges. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK.
• Hall, B., Jackson, E., Tandon, R., Fontan, J-M., Lall, N., eds. (2013).  Knowledge, democracy and action. Community-university research partnerships in global perspectives. Manchester University Press, Manchester, UK.
• Hartwig, K., Calleson, D., Wallace, M. (2006) Unit 1: CBPR – Getting Grounded. In Developing and Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: A Skill-Building Curriculum. Website. http://www.cbprcurriculum.info/
• Martinelli, D. (2016). Background: The Crisis of the Humanities. In: Arts and Humanities in Progress. Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 1-9.
• Mezirow, J. (1991) Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
• Strand, K.J., Marullo, S., Cutforth, N., Stoecker, R., and Donohue, P. (2003) Community-Based Research and Higher Education: Principles and Practices.  Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
• Winter, R (1996). Some principles and procedures for the conduct of action research. In Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt, editor, New Directions in Action Research. Routledge, Oxfordshire, UK.