This roundtable will amplify the voices of urban historians who have developed teaching and research strategies that directly link academic scholarship to public practice. The session will explore the connections between civic engagement in higher education and the process of shaping urban community development broadly conceived. Each panelist will discuss university-community collaborations that have created innovative and dynamic place-making initiatives while at the same time fostering public participation and enhanced student learning. We will explore how public urban history projects can play a significant role in shaping historical understanding of cities and sense of place and, at the same time, serving as a foundation for informing present-day practice in planning, urban revitalization, and economic justice. The roundtable will also highlight how the work the panelists present aligns with the American Historical Association’s new “Guidelines on Broadening the Definition of Historical Scholarship,” addressing both the rewards and continued challenges of doing public scholarship.

Robin Bachin’s presentation will highlight the work done at the University of Miami to build coalitions across sectors to address the interconnected affordable housing and climate crises through the lens of historical planning and policy decisions that often led to racialized displacement. Utilizing big data and civic tech to map these inequities, this presentation will show how cross-sector coalitions can create planning solutions grounded in neighborhood history and sense of place. Alison Isenberg will showcase the work she’s done in Trenton bringing together faculty, staff, community partners, and other universities on co-curricular programs involving students in community-engaged historical projects. These include a photo exhibition, performance walks, documentary films, and public events related to efforts to develop a Peace Park and help public schools strengthen student opportunities for doing original research into the city’s history. Claudrena Harold will address the labor, economic struggles, and political battles of African American workers at the University of Virginia from 1969 to 2006. She will focus on how the multimedia project, Black Fire, has engaged the complex ways in which a diverse coalition of student activists, civil rights organizations, and workers have sought to draw attention to the University of Virginia’s status as the largest employer in Charlottesville, Virginia. Finally, Davarian Baldwin will discuss the national role that higher education played as a primary agent of demolition and displacement during the process of urban renewal. He will highlight his work on The Renewal Project, a multi-sited collaborative initiative that will facilitate research to recover local higher education histories of urban renewal, initiate new pedagogies of non-extractive learning, and establish public projects of landmarking, art, and memorialization. Together, we will discuss with the audience how universities can take seriously their role in working to address societal challenges and shape the public good, with rather than for communities. The presentation is aimed at urban, public, social and cultural historians interested in engaging innovative models for promoting campus-community connections through shared knowledge-building and strategies for forging lasting partnerships that promote collaboration across difference.