Producing Engaged Scholarship at a R1 University

In 1996, Ernest Boyer challenged higher education to respond to declining public confidence by becoming “a more vigorous partner in the search for answers to our most pressing social, civic, economic, and moral problems.”

Thirty years later, that challenge still resonates. But how do we pursue meaningful community-engaged work while ensuring it is also understood and valued by our academic peers? Drawing on lessons from her own career as a community-engaged scholar, Dr. Marybeth Lima will offer concrete examples and practical advice for connecting your work to the mission and priorities of your department, profession, and university.

Throughout her career, Lima has authored or coauthored more than 100 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, books, and book chapters, including Service-Learning: Engineering in Your Community (Oxford University Press), and Building Playgrounds, Engaging Communities: Creating Safe and Happy Places for Children (LSU Press). She received the prestigious Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award in 2007. Lima served as editor of the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship from 2016-2024.

The LSU Community Playground Project, established in 1998, is a program that pairs elementary school and college students to co-design and build “dream playgrounds” at public schools or community gathering spaces. These efforts, and those of the affiliated LSU Community Playground Project Research and Design Team, have led to the construction of more than 50 playgrounds co-designed by the community and LSU students.

Lima’s visit is sponsored by the Center for Community Engagement and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development as part of the Southern Miss Community Engaged Scholars program.