Horizons - Plenary 3

Plenary 3 includes a musical performance by Khari McClelland and the keynote talk "Publicly Engaged Scholarship in a Time of Crisis" by Timothy Eatman.

Khari Wendell McClelland is a diversely talented and ever-evolving artist. Originally from Detroit, Khari well known on the Canadian music scene with reviewers lauding his performances as a clever mix of soul and gospel. Khari’s songwriting crosses genres and generations, joyfully invoking the spirit of his ancestors who straddled the US-Canadian border in efforts to escape slavery and discrimination. His music draws from this rich history, integrating the rhythms and folklore of early African-Americans with contemporary sounds and stories of struggle. Khari has received critical acclaim for his Freedom Singer project, recreating the music fugitive slaves carried on their journey north into Canada.

Dr. Timothy Eatman is an educational sociologist and publicly engaged scholar, serves as the inaugural dean of the Honors Living Learning Community (HLLC) and Associate Professor in the department of Urban Education at Rutgers University - Newark. Prior to this his primary network of operation and leadership for over a decade was with Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life (IA) serving as Director of Research (2004 – 2012) and Faculty Co-Director (2012 to 2017). Tim’s national association leadership continues as one of three national co-chairs of the Urban Research Action Network (URBAN) and as board vice chair (chair elect) of the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) which awarded him the 2010 Early Career Research Award. A widely sought-after speaker, workshop facilitator, and collaborator who has earned local, national and international recognition for his leadership in advancing understandings about the multi-faceted impact of publicly engaged scholarship in the university of the 21st century.

Our world needs positive change agents now more than ever. Higher education can be a dynamic space for intellectual personal and professional growth to meet this need as young people navigate the challenges and opportunities of academe. While providing important disciplinary understanding, content and methodological tools for chosen fields, unfortunately our educational system and social structure tends to eclipse imagination in stifling ways. Professor Eatman explores ways in which higher education can remind us all to develop and exercise prophetic imagination to serve our callings. He evokes the Full Participation framework and discusses Publicly Engaged Scholarship in 21st century Academe as both conceptual and practical tools. Drawing on reflections from his leadership of the U.S. national consortium Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life as well as examples from his current post as Inaugural Dean of the Honors Living-Learning Community (HLLC) at Rutgers University – Newark, Professor Eatman challenges the conference to consider the urgency of the current global condition and the potential ameliorative role that higher education can play in it.