Engaged research and practice: Higher education and the pursuit of the public good

Abstract

Grounded in Boyer’s (1990) call for higher education to address “consequential problems” of society (p. 21), Engaged Research and Practice: Higher Education and the Pursuit of the Public Good highlights research and practice within the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good (the National Forum) to demonstrate how engaged scholarship can have a direct impact on local, state, and national communities. By giving examples of engaged scholarship at these varying levels of community, Engaged Research and Practice provides snapshots of engagement at different scales, thus advancing a concept of engaged research that moves beyond working with a local neighborhood or a non-profit organization. These chapters provide examples of organizational change at the institutional level and state and national initiatives all informed by or part of engaged research for the public good.