Work

Inviting Students to Welcome the Dear Neighbor: How to Use a Public Humanities Project to Foster a University-Wide Culture of Engagement

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Since 2017, St. Catherine University has partnered with the Mapping Prejudice Project to build an interdisciplinary and community-engaged public humanities project that can serve as a model for other universities. The project, titled Welcoming the Dear Neighbor?, engages students, faculty, and staff across departments who work in collaboration with community partners to advance knowledge of systemic racism and its impact both historically and in present-day disparities. The result is mutually beneficial relationships that integrate high-impact practices for student success and retention and yield tangible resources for community groups in our city and surrounding suburbs. To date, more than 1,400 students have participated in the project. We report qualitative and quantitative evidence showing that the project enhanced students’ sense of place and enriched their learning. We describe challenges and lessons learned that will be of particular interest to universities interested in projects that undertake interdisciplinary, racial justice-focused public humanities work.

Source: Public humanities.

DOI: 10.1017/pub.2025.10025

Authors: Rachel A. Neiwert, D’Ann Urbaniak Lesch, Kristine L. West

Institution: St. Catherine University

Language: English

Topic: Service-Learning and Community Engagement

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550