The Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement has unveiled its latest class of Public Scholarship Faculty Fellows.

The eight faculty fellows represent a variety of disciplines and will pursue diverse forms of public engagement, from book writing to documentary films to patient health information.

"Our fourth cohort of faculty fellows continues to embody the multifaceted nature of public scholarship at UC Davis," said Vice Provost Michael Rios. “These fellows span across disciplines and fields including education, humanities, medicine, and social sciences.”

The Faculty Fellows program was launched in 2020 to recognize outstanding individuals dedicated to advancing public scholarship, and to make academic research more accessible to all. The program empowers participants to identify effective platforms for disseminating their scholarship and to communicate their work to diverse audiences. It also equips scholars with the ability to articulate the value of public scholarship within the context of academic reward structures .

The current cohort will meet monthly through March 2024 to provide participating faculty with a public scholarship peer group and structured time for advancing their projects. Guest speakers will bring their university and public scholarship expertise to the group. Each fellow will receive a $1,000 grant in support of their initiatives.

The fellowship program is led by Tessa Hill, associate vice provost of academic programs in the Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement. The Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement builds and supports meaningful relationships between communities and UC Davis scholars for the public good.

The 2022-23 faculty fellows are listed here with their project summaries:

• Catherine Brinkley
  Associate Professor in Human Ecology, Community and Regional Development, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  Director, Center for Regional Change
  
  Project summary: A book prospectus focused on a deep history of urban planning, including community engagement and democracy.

• Katharine Burnett
  Professor and Chair of Art History, College of Letters and Science

  Project summary: Further develop the Global Tea Institute through teaching, research and outreach.

• Agustina Carando
  Assistant Professor of Spanish, College of Letters and Science
  Director of the Heritage Spanish Program

  Project summary: A book showcasing the idea of a bilingual writing center not only as a valuable academic tool supporting language and writing instruction, but also as a model for minority-serving institutions interested in developing culturally-responsive resources to promote underrepresented students’ retention and success.

• Yin Allison Liu
  Assistant Professor of Neuro-Ophthalmology, School of Medicine

  Project summary: Translating clinical research studies and clinical practice experiences into publications in academic journals and materials for public audiences.

• Desirée Martín
  Associate Professor of English, College of Letters and Science

  Project summary: Expanding upon a current book manuscript, “Fake Latinx,” to explore the tension between intensifying and connecting the gaps between Latinx communities and identities and university spaces.

• Ryan Meyer
  Executive Director, Center for Community and Citizen Science, School of Education

  Project summary: Publish a manuscript focused on the role of (and need for) community and citizen science in graduate training programs – particularly those focused on conservation and other environmental issues. 

• Alicia Rusoja
  Assistant Professor of Education, School of Education

  Project summary: A short documentary film about an ongoing participatory action research study, designed and led by Latinx undocumented and documented immigrants, addressing the impact of COVID on their lives.

• Amir Saeidi
  Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering

  Project summary: A book project and hands-on experiments about topics in engineering aimed at high school students, undergraduate students and the general public.

Read more about the new Public Scholarship Faculty Fellows.