The Queen’s Public Scholarship Program (QPSP) is a new initiative for graduate students interested in public scholarship and community engagement. Through a series of specially designed workshops and activities, students will develop and refine their skills as socially engaged, responsive scholars and community members.
Students new to public scholarship or students whose research already reflects public scholarship are welcome to participate in the program.
Students who complete a requisite number of workshops and activities will receive a Public Scholars Program Certificate of Completion.
Remote participation is available for those in online programs and in exceptional circumstances.
What is Public Scholarship? Who can be a Public Scholar?
Public Scholars create positive impact and facilitate change through knowledge creation, application, exchange, and/or collaboration with community partners 
at the local, national, and global level. Public Scholars range across disciplines and public scholarship can take many forms, including:
- Inquiry that serves the public good or public debate in meaningful and/or novel ways. This can include, but is not limited to social, economic, and cultural innovation in the form of reconciliation, delivery of health care, public policy, environmental or cultural stewardship, etc.
- Mutually beneficial partnerships between university researchers and community partners. This can include specific communities of people, non-profit organizations, cultural institutions, and government agencies, etc.
- The co-design of research projects with a community partner and sustained collaboration thereafter.
- Creative and/or new forms of scholarship, which can include non-conventional dissertations formats.
- Advocacy-based research and knowledge for public good.
- Scholarship that is academically rigorous, but also translated to be accessible to the public. This can include policy briefs, exhibitions, community programs, op-eds, websites, podcasts, feasibility studies, data-based reports, and program evaluations, etc.
How Does the Program Work?
The QPSP will offer a series of workshops and activities specially designed to support the development and refinement of skills relevant to engaging with diverse communities, the public, and institutions via academic research. This training supports professional development beyond the academic arena, with learning outcomes relevant across career paths.
Workshop topics and activities are currently under development; however, themes include:
- Principles of community-engaged research
- Research impact and indicators
- Systems and design thinking
- Media training
- Program evaluation
- Project management
- Knowledge dissemination and translation (traditional and alt publications, social media, etc.)
- Decolonizing research practices
- Leadership in collaborative environments
How to Participate in the Queen’s Public Scholarship Program
In Summer 2024, a registration link on this website will allow students to register for the program. Please complete the following form to register for the program.
Remote participation is available for those in online programs and in exceptional circumstances.
QPSP Workshop Dates and Times
The program orientation will occur at at a date to be determined in September 2024.
Workshops will occur the second Tuesday of each month starting in October from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM. Location to be determined.