Join us for a workshop that introduces arts and humanities faculty to community-engaged research. We'll explore how to enhance your scholarship and creative practices in ways that connect with Iowa communities and advance our land-grant mission.
This workshop will address strategies for aligning arts and humanities research with community needs and interests, creating opportunities for meaningful public engagement and impact.
Date: April 3, 2026
Time and place: Morning sessions: 9 AM-1 PM, 0163 Hamilton Hall, Afternoon sessions: 1:30-4 PM, Launchpad, Student Innovation Center (SICTR)
Deadline for registration: March 30, 2026
Register today!
Detailed agenda for the morning session (0163 Hamilton Hall)
Time | Session | Panel |
| 9:00 AM | Welcome and Introductions | Jane Rongerude, Faculty Fellow for Community Engaged Research, and Sarah Kyle, Interim Director, CEAH. |
| 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM | Keynote Lecture "Who is Invited? Community-Engaged Research and the Publicly Engaged University"
Rachel Berney is an urban designer and scholar whose work explores how the built environment shapes belonging, equity, and everyday life in cities across the Americas. Her research examines public space as a site of meaning-making—asking whose presence is invited, whose is overlooked, and how design communicates inclusion or exclusion. At the heart of her practice is community-engaged research that brings together planning, spatial inquiry, and the voices of those who inhabit urban environments. Her keynote will draw on this work to open a conversation about how community-engaged methods can enrich humanistic and artistic inquiry and forge more just and equitable urban futures. | Rachel Berney, Associate Professor and Director of Urban@UW, University of Washington, Seattle |
| 10:05 AM - 11:00 AM | Community-Engaged Research Practices at ISU Meet ISU scholars and artists whose research and creative practices involve aspects of CER. | Jennifer Drinkwater, Associate Professor, Art and Visual Culture, College of Design and Community Arts Specialist, ISU Extension & Outreach Scott Samuelson, Professor of Practice, Philosophy & Religious Studies, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Community and Economic Development (ISU Extension & Outreach): Public Humanities Patrick Finley, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design and Professor in Charge, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iFellows), College of Design Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, Distinguished Professor, History, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| 11:05 AM - 12:10 PM | Working with Community Partners Meet with community partners, whose work helps to bridge the divide between scholars working at universities and public programs happening across the state. | Heather Plucar, Executive Director, Humanities Iowa Grace Altenhofen, Communications & Grants Director, Humanities Iowa Nathan Beacom, Executive Director, The Lyceum Movement, Des Moines Andrew Klumpp, Education & Public Programming, State Historical Society of Iowa David Schmitz, Interim Academic Engagement Coordinator, ISU University Museums Grace Garrett, Former Mayor, Atlantic, Iowa, and member of the Iowa Mayors’ Design Workshop Cohort, 2024. |
| 12:15 PM - 1 PM | Lunch |
Detailed agenda for the afternoon session (Launchpad, Student Innovation Center)
Time | Session | Panel |
| 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | How to take First Steps in CER Meet with ISU leaders in grant partnerships, extension & outreach, community engagement, and economic development for a practical session on how to get started in CER. | Erin Olson-Douglas, College of Design Associate Dean for Extension and Outreach and Director for Community + Economic Development Sandra Norvell, Grants Coordinator, IDRO & LASERS Rob Pfaff, Assistant Professor, Urban Planning and Development, College of Design Digital Scholarship & Repository, Parks Library with Michael Cummings (Digital Scholarship Librarian) and Anne Shelley (Digital Repository Services Librarian) |
| 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM | Break | |
| 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM | Mission and Metrics: Aligning What We Value with How We are Evaluated This final session will focus on best practices for recognizing community-engaged scholarship in the promotion and tenure process. Dr. Berney will lead a conversation with our panelists to discuss emerging strategies for documenting the impact of community-engaged work and practical approaches to updating Promotion & Tenure guidelines, so they more fully align with ISU’s land grant mission. | James Reecy, Professor of Animal Science, Associate Vice President for Research Carly Manz, Teaching Professor, Associate Chair for Teaching, Faculty Senate, Faculty Development and Administrative Council Chair Gary Taylor, Professor of Urban Planning & Development, Extension Specialist, Faculty Success Advisor |