workshop photoWhat does public engagement look like in practice?

In February, the Graduate Division’s Professional Development (GPD) program, together with the Townsend Center, will sponsor a series of events to promote humanities and social science communication.

Public engagement is increasingly viewed as an essential long-term career skill for humanities and social sciences (HSS) graduate students. But what does this kind of work really look like in practice? In this series, GPD will bring together panels of Berkeley faculty, graduate students, and staff who excel at communicating humanities and social sciences topics to broad audiences, across a variety of media.

Each panel will be followed by a workshop highlighting a campus resource that students can use to hone their communication skills. Check out the series schedule below and mark your calendar.


Talking & Teaching to Broad Audiences

Monday, February 5, 4 – 6 pm
309 Sproul Hall (Graduate Professional Development Center)

Panel, 4 – 5 pm: Wolfgang Alders (Graduate Student, Anthropology), Rosemary Joyce (Professor, Department of Anthropology), Christin Zurbach (Graduate Student, History)
Workshop, 5 – 6 pm: How to Participate in K-16 Outreach, led by Shane Carter, Outreach Coordinator, Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS)


Writing to Engage Readers

Friday, February 9, 3 – 5 pm
309 Sproul Hall (Graduate Professional Development Center)

Panel, 3 – 4 pm: Jane Hu (Graduate Student, English), Raina Polivka (Acquisitions Editor for Music, Film, and Media Studies, UC Press), Rachael Samberg (Scholarly Communications Officer, UC Berkeley Library)
Workshop, 4 – 5 pm: Writing Grant Proposals, led by Sabrina Soracco, Director of the Graduate Writing Center


Communicating Across Media: Websites, Podcasts, and More

Monday, February 12, 4 – 6 pm
309 Sproul Hall (Graduate Professional Development Center)

Panel, 4-5 pm: Vicki Hammarstedt (Digital Media Director, Berkeley Advanced Media Institute, Graduate School of Journalism), Shannon Jackson (Associate Vice Chancellor for the Arts & Design, Cyrus and Michelle Hadidi Chair in the Humanities, Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies), Brendan Mackie (Graduate Student, History), Scott Saul (Professor, Department of English)

Workshop, 5-6 pm: Introduction to Digital Media Tools, led by Stacy Reardon, Literature & Digital Humanities Librarian


Going Public: Explaining What We Do and Why It Matters

Friday, February 16, 2 – 4 pm
Geballe Room, Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities

Panel, 2-3 pm: Sandra Bass, Ph.D. (Assistant Dean and Director, Public Service Center), Michael Burawoy (Professor, Department of Sociology), Timothy Hampton (Director of the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities and Aldo Scaglione and Marie M. Burns Distinguished Professor of French and Comparative Literature)

Workshop: 3-4 pm: Claiming Expertise: How to Explain your Research in Three Minutes, led by Andrew Green, Ph.D. Counselor and Associate Director, Berkeley Career Center. This workshop will be instrumental in helping graduate students to prepare Grad Slam presentations for the February 19 submission deadline.