Public Scholarship Studio

Thank you to the Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan for their sponsorship of this initiative!

The field of higher education is facing a pivotal moment in history that requires us as educators and researchers to disrupt “business as usual” and think outside of the box to meet the moment. It is imperative that we continue to develop our field’s collective scholarship, but it is also important that we communicate our scholarship beyond the bounds of higher education.

As one response, we have developed the ASHE Public Scholarship Studio, a conference pathway for anyone who wants to put their research to work for audiences beyond the academy: policymakers, practitioners, community organizations, and the broader public. Studio sessions will be open to all conference attendees; however ASHE members attending the conference can register to officially join the 2026 Public Scholarship Cohort. In cases when space is limited within studio sessions, public scholarship cohort members’ attendance will be prioritized. Across the conference, the Public Scholarship Cohort works to develop public-facing scholarship through focused sessions and shared workspace time. Selected work will be featured in the 2026 ASHE Public Scholarship Compendium.

The Studio is a new offering that the Conference Committee is sponsoring and trying this year. It is built to leverage the time our community of experts has together to help participants make real progress on a public-facing deliverable during the conference itself, and it puts the conference theme, Land, Memory, and Power: Collective Movements to Revolutionize Higher Education, into practice.

What the Studio offers

While the final agenda is currently being finalized, confirmed sessions include:

• ASHE × SSN Policy Brief Intensive: In partnership with the Scholars Strategy Network, attendees bring existing research (i.e., a published journal article, book chapter) and learn strategies to develop a policy brief written for public and policy audiences.

• Putting Your Scholarship to Work: An Interactive Session Using Arts Based Methods: Led by Sharla Berry, Ph.D. This session will engage attendees in using arts-based methods, namely zines, in developing and translating scholarship to the public. Attendees will unpack the benefits of creativity as a critical, decolonial practice of embodiment that can facilitate community-engaged scholarship.

• Studio Office Hours: Shared workspace time following the policy brief and arts based methods sessions for drafting, revision, and peer feedback, with facilitators on hand to support the work.

• Public Scholarship Strategy Convening: An open working session where networks and organizations across higher education come together alongside ASHE members to align priorities and share resources, a working think tank for the field. Participants will produce a coalition map/directory to inform next steps and strategies after the conference. All conference attendees are welcome to join the discussion.

Public Scholarship Cohort at a Glance

Cohort membership is a recognized way to take part in the 2026 ASHE Annual Conference, giving you an active, documented role in the program, whether you are presenting a session or not.

• Who it is for: Any current ASHE member doing, or interested in building the capacity for, public-facing, community-engaged, or policy-relevant work.

• What members do: Develop concrete public-facing scholarship, such as policy briefs, zines, public essays, op-eds, research translations, and discussion guides, in sessions and during Studio Office Hours.

• What it builds toward: Real progress on work members can use and share, with selected pieces featured in the 2026 ASHE Public Scholarship Compendium, a collection of public-facing scholarship from the conference. We are confirming placement, format, and timeline.

• Participation & Engagement: Members commit to at least two Studio offerings. The offerings are built to work together, so members are encouraged to move across them rather than choose one and stop.

• Recognition: Cohort members will receive a letter from the Program Committee Co-Chairs documenting their participation, which they can use to support conference travel funding requests at their institutions.

• How to sign up: To join the 2026 Public Scholarship Cohort, complete the brief interest form. We'll ask for a few sentences about what you're hoping to work on and what you hope to gain from the studio experience. This helps us plan sessions and put the right support in place. Because the Studio is new this year, we're using sign-ups to understand interest and build from there. 

• Capacity: If we receive more registrants than we have capacity to include in the Public Scholarship Cohort, we will prioritize members who do not have a proposal accepted for the ASHE Conference. We recognize the importance of providing a path to attend the conference for those who need documented engagement for institutional/organizational funding.

• Compensation: As a volunteer organization, ASHE thrives because our community builds together through shared time, energy, and expertise. Acceptance into the studio is unpaid and does not include membership or event registration funding. We recognize the importance of providing a path to attend the conference for those who need documented engagement for institutional/organizational funding and hope that acceptance into this program will provide the needed engagement to do so.