Dr. Jon Beasley-Murray

Dr. Jon Beasley-Murray

A black-and-white close-up of Jon staring into the distance.


Associate Professor, Department of French, Hispanic & Italian Studies

“Reflecting on what is public in scholarship means thinking about that relationship between the university and (the rest of) society…the point of a university is not to fix problems, but to reveal them. It is not to provide answers, but to raise questions. It is not to make pronouncements, but to think aloud, in public, and make thinking and thought part of public life. This is surely what ‘public scholarship’ means.”

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Dr. Hessam Dehghani

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Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Asian Studies

“Literature provides a wonderful incentive for people to engage with academia and for academia to reach out from its confined groves towards the public. We have people joining us from remote villages and big cities to share their experiences and to hear the opinion of scholars as well. This is, for me, the benefit of public humanities, i.e. scholars writing and speaking to and for the public and dealing with their real issues rather than scholars publishing for other scholars in journals.”

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Dr. Michelle Stack

Michelle smiles into the camera, wearing glasses, a brown jacket, and a black shirt.


Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies and 2021 Public Humanities Hub Public Engagement Award Winner

“I am interested in public scholarship that points to the disconnect between extensive research concerning ways to create more equitable institutions and the use of corporate rankings that amplify inequity and promote conformity. Most elites, whether in health, education, arts, sciences, business, politics or journalism, graduate from a university and a disproportionate number graduate from top-ranked schools. Given the precarious state of the planet, perhaps it’s time to question how this approach is working out for the vast majority of the world.”

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