Phase 1: Studio Experience
The Studio Experience is an annual, five-week intensive capacity-building phase that enables faculty to consider how their research, teaching, and public engagement can all work together.
A critical goal of the Studio Experience is to consider the wide variety of avenues available to translate scholarly work into public impact, all while connecting with an interdisciplinary, intergenerational learning community focused on public engagement.
2025 Studio Experience Schedule
The 2025 Studio Experience will run from May 12 – June 12, 2025.
The Studio Experience is designed to optimize for community-building and flexibility. It is composed of a mixture of in-person, hybrid, and remote-only sessions via Zoom. Please review the schedule outline for more details.
What faculty are saying about the Studio Experience
What surprised me most about PEFF was how pivotal it was in providing holistic training and expertise in a variety of avenues for public engagement, which sparked a million new ideas I would never have otherwise considered about how to increase the impact of my research.
– Sarah Peitzmeier, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, PEFF Fellow 2021
I enjoyed this experience so much. As a junior scholar, it was nice to connect with campus partners and to meet other scholars who are passionate about public engagement.
– Ashley Cureton, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, PEFF Fellow 2022
Studio Experience Details
During the Studio Experience, the cohort participates in skill-building workshops, reflects deeply on past engaged experiences and future ambitions for societal impacts, and networks with a variety of experts representing the breadth of public engagement across the university.
Some of the topics and activities covered during the workshops include:
- Defining public engagement
- Envisioning impacts as an engaged scholar
- Engaged project planning
- Orienting towards equity in engagement
- Foundational public communications skills
- Networking with campus partners and PEFF alumni
- Evaluation in public engagement
In addition to the workshops that focus on active learning and discussion, cohort members also complete the following exercises as part of their time in the Studio Experience:
- A reflective workbook, scaffolded as pre- and post-exercises for each workshop to encourage preparation for and reflection on each session
- A draft of a brief explainer script, to practice foundational public communications skills
- A public impact statement, an essay that articulates guiding philosophies in engagement, experiences living out those philosophies, and future ambitions as an engaged scholar
From 2021-2024, 95% of cohort members who responded to the final program survey strongly agreed (84%) or agreed (9%) that the Studio Experience is a program they would recommend to others interested in public engagement.