Michael Nordquist, Executive Director of The College of New Jersey’s Center for Commnuity Engaged Learning and Research, was selected to be a participant in the Eastern Region Campus Compact’s Engaged Scholars Initiative. The Engaged Scholars Initiative seeks to develop, support and connect leaders who can advance co-created knowledge, critically engaged pedagogies, institutional change, and collaborative action to address societal issues.
Scholars were selected from a highly competitive pool of nominated candidates from the Eastern Region. Scholars were nominated by college and university presidents and chief academic officers. The 2019-2020 scholars represent 11 institutions from 7 states and D.C., and a variety of roles on their campus connected to civic and community engagement.
“Campus Compact is thrilled to welcome the first cohort of the Eastern Region Engaged Scholars Initiative.” said Marisol Morales, Vice President for Network Leadership at Campus Compact. “The interest in the program and the caliber and diversity of all the applicants was extraordinary. The goal of this program is to develop and support equity-minded community engaged scholars and practitioners who can shape the future of this field. I believe that we move a step closer to achieving that goal with this inaugural cohort.”
As part of this 12 person cohort, Nordquist will participate in an 18-month ongoing learning and leadership process which includes professional development, collaboration, and scholarship to help the individual participants and the cohort strengthen their scholarship, research, and impact. Scholars will participate in in-person and online learning opportunities, including retreats, regular meetings, and the Eastern Region Campus Compact Conference, which is taking place in March 2019 in Providence, RI.
Nordquist’s scholarly interests revolve around questions of how to create effective democratic agents of change in a contemporary context that is, at times, openly hostile to democratic practice. In particular, he is interested in integrating the insights of radical democratic political theory—critiques of neoliberal logic and liberal notions of agency, and broadened conceptualizations of political action, specifically—into the scholarship of service learning and community engagement. He is excited to join the Engaged Scholars Initiative to become a part of a community of practice that thinks critically about the ethics, politics, and impact of their work, while working collaboratively to enhance the transformative potential and impact of the field.
About Eastern Region Campus Compact: Campus Compact is a national coalition of 1,000 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. As the only national higher education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, Campus Compact enables campuses to develop student’s citizenship skills and forge effective community partnerships. Eastern Region Campus Compact (ERCC) is a partnership comprised of state and multi-state Compacts serving Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. The Compacts that make up ERCC collaborate on member services and opportunities regionally.
For more information, visit the sites of the Engaged Scholars Initiative, Campus Compact, Eastern Region Campus Compact, and New Jersey Campus Compact.