Penn State selected as new host for Imagining America national consortium

Five-year partnership to begin July 1, 2027, focused on advancing arts, humanities and civic engagement

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State was selected as the new campus host of Imagining America, a national consortium that connects scholars, artists and designers to promote public scholarship, humanities and the arts in higher education. As host, Penn State will collaborate with Imagining America in its ongoing efforts to build connected, informed and equitable communities, while expanding understanding of how art, design and the humanities impact health and wellbeing.

As part of a planned hosting transition, the organization will move its headquarters from the University of California, Davis, to the Penn State University Park campus in July 2027, for a renewable five-year period. Penn State is the fourth institution to serve as a host campus since 1999.

Imagining America’s National Advisory Board chose Penn State after a two-year search, citing the University’s demonstrated commitment to “lifting and catalyzing public service and engaged scholarship, art and design toward a vibrant and healthy democratic society.”

“We are honored to partner with Imagining America in the important work of advancing higher education’s impact for the greater good, including new opportunities to integrate the arts, humanities and social sciences as a part of our ongoing commitment to student success,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, executive vice president and provost at Penn State. “Penn State’s existing strengths in art, design, public humanities and community-engaged research present exciting opportunities for transformative impact as we build on Imagining America’s legacy while advancing Penn State’s 21^st-century land-grant mission.”

In its proposal, Penn State emphasized the University as well positioned to support Imagining America in convening new collaborations focused on creative expression and place-based humanities work and helping them develop into a broader national movement.

“Throughout the search process, Imagining America’s National Advisory Board was impressed by Penn State’s long-standing commitments to community-based scholarship, and its creative approach to learning through high-impact experiences that reach students both inside and outside of the classroom,” said Paul Schadewald, Imagining America National Advisory Board Chair. “We look forward to working with Penn State and together finding new ways to advance the work and impact of Imagining America’s consortium of higher education institutions and their partners.”

Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture, College of the Liberal Arts and the College of Health and Human Development will lead the partnership with Imagining America. Students, faculty, staff and community partners across Penn State’s campuses will work together to reinforce Penn State’s national leadership in arts- and humanities-informed approaches to social well-being.

The work will build upon existing humanities-infused scholarship across Penn State, including the Presidential Public Impact Research Awards (PPIRA), which connects students and researchers with community, nonprofit, business and government partners to address locally defined challenges through evidence-guided, experiential work.

In addition, the collaboration will present opportunities to explore broad topics such as equity, justice and social policy as it brings together artists, designers and humanists with experts in social sciences, public health, youth development, architecture, recreation, parks and sustainability.

Founded in 1999 as the result of a White House Millennium Council meeting on advancing higher education’s commitment to public engagement and service, Imagining America works with more than 70 member institutions and cultural partners nationwide. As part of a five-to-ten-year hosting arrangement, the organization’s first host was the University of Michigan, followed by 10-year terms at Syracuse University and UC Davis.

A transition team consisting of representatives from Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture, College of the Liberal Arts and the College of Health and Human Development, as well as Imagining America and UC Davis, will engage with student groups, faculty and staff, and community partners as they transfer operations and active programs to Penn State over the course of the 2026-2027 academic year. The team will also launch a national search for a new faculty director, a position that will report to Sotiropoulos.

The transition will officially be marked at Imagining America’s National Gathering in Davis, California, October 23–25.

For more information, email IAatPennState@psu.edu or visit the transition homepage at Imagining America.