Navigating the Joys and Challenges of Public Scholarship in Graduate School

An Imagining America Research Report

By Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana and Alana Haynes Stein1

The following report provides an account of the graduate student experiences of activists and public scholars from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). The report charts myriad themes that emerged during interviews conducted in the summer of 2020 by Alana Haynes Stein (Sociology) and Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana (Spanish and Portuguese), UC Davis PhD candidates who were Mellon Public Scholars on Imagining America’s Leading and Learning Initiative (LLI) in 2020.

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1Authors are listed in alphabetical order and contributed equally.

Inspired by IA action research findings, the Public Scholar Conversation Cards and Organizing Culture Change Imagination Guide are pedagogic tools to inspire reflection and action.

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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.