Description

Since its founding in 1898, Northeastern University has developed an approach to experiential learning that is anchored by a cooperative education program which seeks to integrate study with professional work and community service.  Informed by this tradition—and focused squarely on both the challenges of public engagement and support for the next generation—Northeastern proposes to train, support, and promote 30 emerging scholars of religion and theology, increasing their capacity to produce public-facing scholarship.  Organizing and hosting a series of annual media engagement institutes, the project will also facilitate collaborations between media outlets and theology and religion scholars, primarily by facilitating short-term placements with media organizations, building on the strengths of the University’s well-established co-op program.
Supporting cohorts of ten emerging scholars in each of three summers, institutes will cover a wide range of topics, including: how to reach and effectively engage media outlets, building a public-facing intellectual and professional profile, using social media to promote and amplify scholarship, and assessing the personal and professional risks of public scholarship.  Guest speakers in the institutes will include leading journalists and scholars engaged in public-facing work.  Selected from a national applicant pool, emerging scholars will include advanced graduate students, non-tenured faculty, and individuals with a doctorate in theology or religious studies who are pursuing employment options beyond the academy.
 
Media collaborations will follow the summer institutes, and will involve 2-3 month partnerships between an institute participant and a media outlet.  Throughout its long history at Northeastern, the co-op model has been conceived not simply as an internship, but as an approach to intellectual and professional growth and career success that demands continual learning and integration.  Involving placements with a wide range of media organizations, the project’s media collaborations will draw creatively upon this model, giving emerging scholars access to publishing platforms and professional relationships that will allow them to hone their voices for public scholarship.
The Luce Foundation’s grant would support the project’s faculty leader, as well as a project director, who will co-direct the summer institutes and oversee the media placements. Participating emerging scholars will receive stipends, and small grants to media organizations will be made to those serving as hosts for the media collaborations.
A diverse advisory committee will guide the project and provide one context for ongoing reflection on the challenges and opportunities of public scholarship. The committee will meet regularly, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and at Northeastern. Through a partnership with the AAR’s Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion, materials produced in conjunction with the annual summer institutes will be made available in the form of an online open-access course, to be hosted by the AAR.