Scholars in public life

 

 

The Imagining America consortium (IA) brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world. Working across institutional, disciplinary, and community divides, IA strengthens and promotes public scholarship, cultural organizing, and campus change that inspires collective imagination, knowledge-making, and civic action on pressing public issues. By dreaming and building together in public, IA creates the conditions to shift culture and transform inequitable institutional and societal structures.

Register now for the 2026 IA National Gathering!

Reflecting on the importance of transitions – from political crises to global climate change, and personal identity to organizational transformation – the 2026 IA National Gathering invites participants to share stories, research, creative works, and community practices exploring the complex process of transitioning away from systems of fear and domination and towards restoring collective spirit.
Featured Image: Angelica Sauceda, Taller Arte Nuevo Amanecer (TANA) Archive

WHAT’S NEW

Gen AI in the Classroom: Tips for Engaging Students in AI Classroom Policy

AUGUST 13, 10am PST, ON ZOOM. In this back-to-school edition of the Digital Divestment Roundtable, Marguerite Mayhall (Art History, Kean University) and Ashwin Vaidya (Math/Physics, Montclair State University, IA Member Institution), will introduce us to their pedagogical practice of engaging students in a conversation around AI in the classroom through the lens of informed consent.

+ Gen AI in the Classroom: Tips for Engaging Students in AI Classroom Policy

2025-2026 IA Annual Report

We are pleased to share the Imagining America Annual Report for the 2025-2026 membership year. It has been a joy to build new and meaningful relationships with so many people, organizations, and places across the national network and we hope that you enjoy reading on for all that we have learned and accomplished in the past year.

+ 2025-2026 IA Annual Report

2026 Mail Art Project Unveiled

IA is pleased to share the artistic contributions created by participants from IA member institutions for the 2026 Mail Art Project (MAP). The 2026 Mail Art Project takes inspiration from the 2025 IA National Gathering – Providing Passage: Practicing the Worlds We Want, which invited us to consider how to provide passage for one another and all beings towards a more just, liberatory, and caring future.

+ 2026 Mail Art Project Unveiled

B-More With Imagination: 2025 IA Collaboratory Blog Post

Baltimore was the site of Imagining America’s 15th National Gathering, which centered on the theme “America Will Be! The Art and Power of ‘Weaving Our We.’” A decade later, three of the institutions that hosted the Gathering – Towson University, UMBC, and MICA – responded to IA’s call to form a new Collaboratory. Learn more about their activities in this blog post.

+ B-More With Imagination: 2025 IA Collaboratory Blog Post

 

WHAT’S HAPPENING

National Gathering

Annual convening of public scholars, artists, designers, students, and cultural organizers addressing today’s pressing issues.

 

New Campus Host

IA is proud to share that Pennsylvania State University is the next campus home for Imagining America, starting July 1, 2027. Learn more about this intentional cycle of transition for IA.

Fellowships

IA fosters vibrant networks of graduate and undergraduate students from our member institutions.

 

Collaborative Research and Learning

IA’s research initiatives and learning opportunities leverage the intellectual and creative capital that is the consortium’s greatest strength.

WE ENVISION

We envision a world of expansive social imagination, constructed by multiple ways of knowing, where people work together to nurture healthy, vibrant, and joyful communities.

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OUR MISSION

The Imagining America consortium (IA) brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world. Working across institutional, disciplinary, and community divides, IA strengthens and promotes public scholarship, cultural organizing, and campus change that inspires collective imagination, knowledge-making, and civic action on pressing public issues.

By dreaming and building together in public, IA creates the conditions to shift culture and transform inequitable institutional and societal structures.

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GET ON THE IA MAILING LIST

SIGN UP HERE
Phone Number:

530-297-4640

Email Address:

connect@imaginingamerica.org

Physical Address:

207 3rd Street, Suite 120
Davis, CA 95616

 

Imagining America

Publications

Programs

Funding has been provided by California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.