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: Taller Arte Nuevo Amanecer (TANA) Archive

WHAT’S NEW

Imagining America Announces Open Search for Next Faculty Director

Imagining America is pleased to announce the open search for the next Faculty Director. Imagining America will be hosted by Penn State University, starting July 1, 2027, and the Faculty Director will be a key leader in launching IA at Penn State and leading the next chapter of the national consortium. Read on for more information and share widely in your networks!

+ Imagining America Announces Open Search for Next Faculty Director

Tools for the Undercommons Speaker Series: Nov 18

This IA Collaboratory is organized by professors Jacqueline Jean Barrios and Harris Kornstein (Public & Applied Humanities, University of Arizona), and each virtual event features guest speakers in a salon-style conversation with attendees. This month’s featured speakers are Brandi Locke (Just Transformations Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, The Center for Black Digital Research, Penn State University, University Park), Amallia Orman (Student Voice Manager at the NYC Department of Education), and Judy Pryor-Ramirez (Clinical Associate Professor of Public Service, NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and IA National Advisory Board member).

+ Tools for the Undercommons Speaker Series: Nov 18

Tools for the Undercommons Speaker Series: Nov 4

This IA Collaboratory is organized by professors Jacqueline Jean Barrios and Harris Kornstein (Public & Applied Humanities, University of Arizona), and each virtual event features two guest speakers in a salon-style conversation with attendees. This installment’s featured speakers are Sylvia Fernández Quintanilla (Assistant Professor of Public and Digital Humanities at the University of Texas at San Antonio) and Lili Flores Aguilar (Associate Director of the Markings/Huellas project at UCLA cityLAB).

+ Tools for the Undercommons Speaker Series: Nov 4

EP3: A CONVERSATION WITH MEMBERS OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

In the third episode of Gathering Whispers for this season, we talk to a few members of the steering committee, an advisory body of university-community-student leaders who have been integral to shaping this year’s gathering. In this episode, you will hear from Rachel Hartsough (City of Davis Arts and Cultural Affairs Fund), Sarah McCullough (Feminist Research Institute), Jord Nelsen (Third Space Art Collective), and Sandy Holman (Culture Co-Op).

+ EP3: A CONVERSATION WITH MEMBERS OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

 

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.