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.
Announcements
Hanna Garth and the Heirloom Gardens Oral History Project at Princeton's Inaugural Community-Engaged Research Institute
April 11, 2024
On Friday, April 5, 2024, Assistant Professor Hanna Garth’s Heirloom Gardens Oral history project was…
Through the Barfield Fund for Community-Engaged Independent Work and other sources, the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) funds senior thesis research that employs community-based research methods. While the student's home department may serve as the primary funder for independent research, ProCES can provide additional funding…
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.