Public engagement in LAS

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Our mission
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In the LAS Office of Public Engagement, we aim to foster trusting and long-term collaborative community and campus partnerships that guide university resources and activities towards mutually beneficial outcomes for all of society.

  • We are committed to equal and open dialogue, active listening, and empowering different perspectives to ensure that our efforts are grounded in a diversity of lived experiences.
  • We strive to create an authentic culture of shared responsibility, collaboration, and social changes as we learn, innovate, and create beyond the university in our scholarly activities.
  • We envision a future where knowledge and innovation thrive and our collective efforts meaningfully contribute to a more just, inclusive, and prosperous society.

Our values

Our public engagement mission is centered on the principles of authenticity, inclusion, responsiveness, and mutual benefit.

Authentic

We believe that authenticity is essential to build genuine relationships and foster trust. Engaging with our community honestly, transparently, and sincerely in our partnerships will allow us to create meaningful, co-equal relationships that make a positive difference.

Inclusive

We strive to create welcoming and inclusive collaborations and seek to engage communities representing a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Our commitment to inclusive collaboration will ensure that our partners are valued, respected, and empowered to co-equally contribute to our shared goals.

Responsive

We recognize that communities are constantly evolving, and we are committed to actively responding to emerging needs and priorities. Listening to the voices of university and community partners will allow us to stay attuned to their concerns, ideas, priorities, and innovations and adapt our efforts to effectively collaborate and make a meaningful impact.

Mutually Beneficial

We believe that effective public engagement is reciprocal and mutually beneficial and strive to create co-equal partnerships that enhance the mission, well-being, and prosperity of both our college and the broader community. Our goal is to empower invaluable community knowledge, expertise, and experience while also improving our scholarly activities’ value and effectiveness as we work together to address societal challenges.

Our goals

Members of the community putting together food packages at the University YMCA

To further our public engagement mission, we aim to:

1. Establish new and productive relationships outside the college, university, and academic context to foster understanding, trust, and shared goals.

2. Support opportunities to establish such partnerships to build scholarly collaborations that are sustainable, inclusive, action oriented and effective.

3. Establish and maintain a hub for communication, information, strategies, assessment, and resources for faculty, students, and community members to facilitate the creation of partnerships and collaborations.

4. Inspire and engage our faculty and students to become socially responsible, action oriented, and equipped with the knowledge, skills, and mindsets to contribute to the betterment of our society.

5. Foster community-based research such as participatory action research (e.g., research where the community takes the lead), community service and outreach (e.g., volunteerism, outreach programs), and community-based learning opportunities (e.g., field studies, internships, professional practica, project-based learning, program outcome evaluation, service learning).

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Putting our values into practice
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Find out more about how we engage our community and our partners through our guiding principles.

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Authentic

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The Spurlock Museum fosters authenticity by offering collections and educational programs that help interpret the diversity of cultures. 

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Inclusive

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Cena y Ciencias and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) seek to engage communities representing a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Cena y Ciencias and CLACS strive to promote inclusivity and foster learning throughout collaboration with the University and the local Champaign-Urbana community. 

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Responsive

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Not only are our faculty conducting research that is cutting-edge and innovative, but their research also contributes to justice and equity. Learn more about how our faculty are involved with Illinois HR 453 and the Investigative Technology Exchange

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Mutually beneficial

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The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research aims to make interdisciplinary research and data accessible to the community. They expand campus and community research capacities, giving voice to data by transforming information into knowledge so communities can understand—and address—real-world issues that affect the lives of people around the globe.  

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News
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Read about public engagement efforts within the College of LAS.

Block Reference
Read article: Coming full circle for the community
Coming full circle for the community
 When history graduate student Daniel Rodriguez applied for the Summer Bridge Program, created by the ...
Read article: A new model for learning about the community
A new model for learning about the community
 “Kids need this project now more than ever,” said history graduate student Alex Jacobs as she reflected on her summer working with a Champaign group that is developing a new private middle school for boys.Jacobs studies queer history and the British...
Read article: Crowdsourcing chemistry: Gift cards serve as incentive in Kaggle competition for data-driven discoveries
Crowdsourcing chemistry: Gift cards serve as incentive in Kaggle competition for data-driven discoveries
 Inspired by their own recent chemical discoveries for solar energy development using machine learning, a research team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was curious what other data-driven chemical discoveries could be possible if they could access a broader machine learning...
Read article: Awards recognize excellence in public engagement
Awards recognize excellence in public engagement
Individuals and teams from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences who have made a visible impact on society were recently recognized with the 2025 Campus Awards for Excellence...
Read article: Teaching about sea ice while standing on it
Teaching about sea ice while standing on it
Editor's note: This is a first person account of Arctic research by Ellen Buckley, professor of Earth science and environmental change. UTQIAQGVIK, Alaska — My boots crunch into the snow as I step onto the frozen Arctic Ocean. It’s April in...
Read article: The profound quest of Lakisha David
The profound quest of Lakisha David
Lakisha Tawanda David’s career represents, in many ways, a lifelong search for identity.David, a professor of anthropology, uses her research to reunite those with severed ties to their ancestry through DNA connections. One branch of her work utilizes...