Pictured are 32 of the 39 PhD scholars participating in UBC's pilot Public Scholars Initiative (PSI)
Sparked by the university-wide conversation at last year’s Re-Imagining the PhD event and subsequent advisory group deliberations, the UBC Public Scholars Initiative (PSI) was launched as an innovative pilot program intended to explore how a top-tier university can offer PhD pathways that encourage purposeful social contribution, innovative forms of collaborative scholarship, and broader career readiness for doctoral students.
Background
Within the realms of higher education and society, several streams of change have converged and have given rise to vigorous debates about the purposes of the academy and of doctoral education. The fundamental approach to doctoral education has not changed significantly since the modern degree was instituted in the early 19th century as a means to regenerate the professoriate, yet most PhD graduates now pursue careers outside of the academy, where they contribute immeasurably to the public good through diverse forms and outputs of scholarship. These types of directly transformative scholarship are increasingly valued within the academy, and there is growing interest and activity in ensuring doctoral students have some exposure to them during their program. Furthermore, governments and granting agencies more frequently require evidence of the impact of research on global concerns, and many students themselves express the deep desire to contribute tangibly to the public good through their PhD scholarship. There is no question that effective approaches to today’s problems and questions require this diversity of scholarship, and a breadth of thinking that is interdisciplinary, integrative, innovative and collaborative.
To address these changing realities, many institutions around the world, including UBC, offer PhD students workshops and courses designed to enhance non-academic career skills. Internships, such as those offered through Mitacs, provide important experiential learning relevant to students’ future careers. We believe the PSI pilot to be one of the first of its kind, however, in moving beyond both generic skills training and extracurricular experience, to an integrative approach that supports diverse forms of collaborative scholarship and scholarly products that are part of the dissertation work itself. In encouraging this approach, we are attesting that these forms of knowledge generation and dissemination should be rigorously assessed for their merit, and that UBC values them as integral components of the work required for its highest degree. We will be closely following and supporting these scholars, as ‘pioneers’ (their word) in the changing landscape of doctoral education.
The UBC Pilot
The strategy of this pan-university initiative is to support and encourage public scholarship, which generally entails contributing to the public good through partnerships with those in public or private sectors to carry out research in areas of mutual interest. Many students and faculty already carry out such research; the pilot is intended to provide opportunities for those who have not considered this form of scholarship, to publicly value and support those who are doing it, and to open up possibilities for inclusion and assessment of the work and its outputs in the dissertation. Students are encouraged, for example, to include a variety of scholarly artifacts in their dissertation, including policy papers, websites, films, teaching syllabi, or communications material for non-academic audiences.
A call for applicants was issued earlier this year for PhD students interested in explicitly linking their doctoral work to an arena of public benefit and integrating broader and more career-relevant forms of scholarship into their doctoral education. From 98 applicants, 39 PhD students have been selected from across the full range of disciplines to take part in the initiative as our first cohort.
They are an extremely enthusiastic group, and committed to making the world a better place. Among the projects are: a proposal to develop a training program for humanitarian workers leading from a Political Science student’s research on armed non-state groups and child soldiers; a collaboration with the City of Vancouver to improve the seismic safety of its buildings; and a collaboration with the U.S. White House and two private companies to explore avenues to improving job satisfaction and employee engagement.
The PSI is a new and unique story wherein PhD students engaged in scholarly work with clear links to public benefit are to receive both additional funding and academic support and endorsement. With the launch event that took place on September 30th, we also began to sow the seeds of the 3rd major support strategy of this initiative, namely the creation of a Public Scholars Network. Featured guest speaker, UBC Professor of Anthropology Wade Davis, kicked-off the event by sharing his thoughts and experience on “Being a Public Scholar”. Then the invited students and faculty began to engage in dialogue and form a network that we hope will lead to collaboration and mentorship opportunities that cross disciplines and transcend the traditional boundaries of academia, opening new career pathways and facilitating the use of scholarship to advance the public good.
Grad.ubc.ca/psi
In order to give both the UBC community and the wider world the opportunity to meet these 39 scholars and explore various possibilities for practicing and engaging with public scholarship, a special PSI section of grad.ubc.ca will be launched in October. The section will include photos and profiles of our UBC PSI scholars as well as op-ed posts, resources for those engaged in public scholarship and a listing of the upcoming public thematic presentations. These events will be organized around themes such as public health, environmental sustainability and working with, and within, indigenous communities.
As each and every one of the PSI scholars is engaged in scholarship with the potential to make our world a better place, these events will give them an opportunity to present some of their work to a general audience and allow all of us to be inspired by their purpose and passion. Event listings will be posted to the UBC Event calendar and on grad.ubc.ca -- we hope to see you there.
Here is the full list of UBC’s 2015 Public Scholars Initiative Participants.
Last Name |
First Name |
Faculty / School |
PHD Program |
Project |
Aijazi |
Omer |
Education |
EDST |
Precarious Lives, Disrupted Bodies: Examining Social Repair and Disaster in Northern Pakistan |
Andrews |
Curtis |
Arts |
MUSC |
An Ethnomusicological Study of Resistance to Cultural Hegemony in Rural Ghana: The Case of Torgbui Apetorku |
Beausoleil |
Angèle |
G+PS |
INDS |
A Strategic Design Method for Business Innovation |
Benjaminy |
Shelly |
Medicine |
MEDX |
Landscape of Hope Surrounding Stem Cell Biotechnologies |
Bhardwaj |
Ajay |
Arts |
ASIA |
Cultural Exchange and Cooperation among Socially Marginalised Musicians in Punjab: The Muslim Mirasis and the the Dalits |
Birk |
Manjeet |
Education |
CCFI |
Experiences of Racialized and Indigenous Girls and Women within Systems |
Borona |
Gloria |
Forestry |
FRST |
Investigating People-Forest Relationships in Central Kenya: Understanding Sustainability through Indigenous Knowledge Systems |
Byers |
Kaylee |
G+PS |
INDS |
Rat Movement in Urban Environments: Does Trapping Influence the Risk of Disease Spread among Rats in the DTES? |
Fabris |
Janna |
ApScience |
MTRL |
Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Adoption for the Advancement of Composites Manufacturing & Design Practice |
Grajales |
Francisco |
G+PS |
INDS |
Online Privacy, Internet Identities, and the Public Right to Informed Choices |
Greer |
Alissa |
Medicine |
SPPH |
Implementing Peer Engagement in Harm Reduction Policy and Program Formation in British Columbia |
Grue |
Dustin |
Arts |
ENGL |
Writer’s Bloc: A Pedagogy for Writing |
Hallenbeck |
Jessica |
Arts |
GEOG |
Women in Fish: We Have Stories |
Heckelman |
Amber |
L&FS |
ISLF |
Food Sovereignty and Climate Adaptation with Small-Scale Farming Communities in the Philippines |
Kennedy |
Mary Clare |
Medicine |
SPPH |
The Health Impacts of Eviction among People who Use Drugs |
King |
Kirk |
Arts |
MUSC |
Kadekaru Rinsho: His Life, His Music, and His Role in the Forging of Okinawan Identity |
Klain |
Sarah |
Science |
RMES |
Ocean-based Renewable Energy Developments |
Lam |
Vivian |
Medicine |
NRSC |
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Mental Health Outcomes |
Lyall |
Andrea |
Forestry |
FRST |
Exploring Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation’s (KHFN) Relationship with the Forests and Their Definition of Sustainable Forest Management |
MacLennan |
Matthew |
Science |
CHEM |
The Analysis of Naphthenic Acids (NAs) Contaminants in Oil Sands Process Waters (OSPW). |
Milbury |
Karissa |
Science |
GSAT |
Establishing Public Connections with the International Genetics Community through Online Resource Development and Outreach Opportunities |
Munro |
Sarah |
G+PS |
INDS |
Maternal Health Services and Knowledge Translation: Caesarean Section Practices in British Columbia |
Olmsted |
Paige |
Science |
RMES |
Exploring Alternative Finance Mechanisms for Ecological Conservation to Engage, Empower, and Deliver |
Ortiz Escalante |
Sara |
ApScience |
PLAN |
Transgressing Space and Time: Everyday/Everynight Life of Women Working the Night-Shift |
Patrick |
Lyana |
ApScience |
PLAN |
Dis/connection in 21st Century Canada: Therapeutic Planning Through an Indigenous Lens |
Patrick Kearney |
Sean |
L&FS |
SOIL |
Agroforestry for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (ABES) |
Pauer |
Stefan |
Law |
LAW |
Border Tax Adjustments in Support of Domestic Climate Policies: Explaining the Gap Between Theory and Practice |
Pilliar |
Andrew |
Law |
LAW |
Access to Justice Research Network (AJRN) Assessment Tools Development |
Plowright |
William |
Arts |
POLI |
Child Soldiers and Armed Non-State Groups: Legitimacy and the Negotiation of Humanitarian Space in Intra-state War |
Ramon Hidalgo |
Ana Elia |
Forestry |
FRST |
Social Networks, Social Capital and Gender Play in Empowering Village Members in Two Ecotourism Villages in Ghana |
Singh |
Devyani |
Forestry |
FRST |
Impacts of Local Scale Biomass Estimation on Carbon Financing for Improved Cook-Stoves |
Stranger-Johannessen |
Espen |
Education |
LLED |
Digital Storytelling, Early Reading, and the African Storybook Project (ASP) |
Taggart |
Jonathan |
Science |
RMES |
Characterizing St'át'imc Cultural Ecosystem Services for Conservation |
Talloni Alvarez |
Nicolas |
Science |
RMES |
Sustainability in 7 Chilean Fisheries: Ecological and Human Dimensions |
Theurer |
Kristine |
Medicine |
RHSC |
Peer Mentoring in Residential Care: A Mixed Methods Study |
Tung |
Dorian |
ApScience |
CIVL |
Energy-based Design Procedure (EEDP) for Fused Structures in Earthquake Applications |
Ulehla |
Julia |
Arts |
MUSC |
Living Song: A Multi-Generational Investigation of Moravian Folk Music |
Vasquez Fernandez |
Andrea |
Forestry |
FRST |
Building Methodologies, Addressing Conflicts: Cases in the Peruvian Amazon |
Whillans |
Ashley |
Arts |
PSYC |
The Benefits and Barriers of Buying Happier Time |
Media contact: Carolynne Ciceri, Communications Manager, UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Email: carolynne.ciceri@ubc.ca
PSI contact: Efe Peker, PhD Candidate, Public Scholarship Coordinator,UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Email: efe.peker@ubc.ca