Thank you for visiting the Imagining America website, where we share a profusion of projects and programs related to how artists and scholars, either through or in collaboration with higher education, contribute to the world. We are an organization grounded in scholarship and creative practice, looking to translate our best thinking and creation into actions. Whether exploring how arts contribute to community development, recognizing the wealth of knowledge produced through partnerships bringing together community and campus stakeholders, or making it possible for a faculty member’s public scholarship to “count” when he or she comes up for tenure and promotion, IA is committed to higher education as an active agent for the public good.
A consortium of 90 colleges and universities, and their partners, IA emphasizes the possibilities of humanities, arts, and design in knowledge-generating initiatives. Such activity can span disciplines through collaborations with public health, environmental issues, community education, neighborhood development, and others. We also value the knowledge and creativity-generating components of partnerships among people whose everyday lives produce different kinds of expertise. So the scholar in the library, the teacher in the classroom, the organizer in the community – each provides different expertise that together is greater than the sum of its parts.
Through our website, you can learn about specific projects in this spirit carried out by our members and partners, as well as about IA’s collaborative Research & Action initiatives. You can download various publications produced under our wing. You can find out how to join us at regional and national convenings, and receive our field-wide news. Enjoy!
