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Engaging Scientists - Campus Events

The AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion (DoSER) program partnered with six competitively selected institutions across the U.S. as part of its "Engaging Scientists in the Science and Religion Dialogue" project. These institutions hosted:

  • Campus events that were free and open to the public
  • Workshops open to students, professors, and faculty at the institution.
  • Public engagement contests recognizing ongoing or prospective science engagement with diverse communities.

The goal of the workshops and other activities is to assist scientists interested in more effective science engagement with the diverse audiences in their spheres of influence. Learn more here.

Partnering Institutions in Spring 2019

About the Workshop

The interactive workshop is a collaboration between  AAAS DoSER and the AAAS Center for Public Engagement presented an overview of why considering the perspectives of religious and spiritual publics is important for science engagement. Then, workshop participants had the opportunity to discuss prior experiences and anticipated challenges, share strategies for constructive dialogue with sensitivity to a range of worldviews, and practice effective science communication at the intersection of science, faith, and culture. 

For more information about each school's event, please visit its registration page (above).

Coming Soon: Workshops at the AAAS Annual Meeting

Want to participate in an Engaging Scientists workshop but couldn't attend at a participating institution? AAAS DoSER will be hosting a workshop at the AAAS Annual Meeting on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.

You must be registered for the AAAS Annual Meeting to attend.

About the Public Engagement Contests

The Public Engagement contests are now closed.

This contest recognized ongoing or prospective science engagement by partner university STEM graduate students, postdocs and faculty that was focused on (or explicitly inclusive of) religious publics.

Eligible submissions included:

  • Short essay describing the engagement activity
  • Support letter from collaborating community representative
  • Engagement product (finished or in progress)

To be eligible, applicants participated in a DoSER workshop at their institution.

Prize:
Up to four awards of $1,000 each per campus were available. 

About the Engaging Scientists Campus Events

PLEASE NOTE: APPLICATIONS HAVE CLOSED AND CAMPUS EVENTS HAVE OCCURRED.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) sought competitive proposals from U.S. universities interested in holding a science communication and engagement event on their campus, with hosting expenses for the event to be covered by AAAS. The primary goal of these events was to explore challenges, opportunities, and effective strategies for constructive dialogue about science by scientists with diverse (and particularly with religious/spiritual) publics, drawing on existing AAAS expertise and recent peer-reviewed research in science communication. The events included:

  1. A science communication workshop for scientists focused on engagement with religious publics but with relevance to public science engagement in general, moderated by AAAS staff and open to university-affiliated graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and faculty in the sciences (up to 50 participants total, by registration only);
  2. A contest to recognize ongoing or prospective science engagement activities in the university’s community by affiliated graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and/or faculty, with four awards of $1000 each;
  3. A guest speaker (or speaker series), chosen collaboratively by university representatives and AAAS staff, to speak on science engagement with religious and spiritual publics; and
  4. A catered reception for workshop participants and speaker event attendees.

All degree-granting accredited U.S. public or private universities ranked at R1, R2 or R3 by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education were eligible to apply. Colleges and universities ineligible to apply directly were encouraged to be co-applicants with an eligible institution in their region.

Each campus engagement event was facilitated by representatives from the DoSER program and the Center for Public Engagement, in collaboration with the host institution. For each event AAAS covered expenses for facility use (up to $5000), A/V services (up to $3000), marketing/promotion (up to $1000), and catering (up to $4250), and the full costs of up to three guest speaker(s) and workshop facilitator travel, meals and lodging. A contest recognized ongoing or prospective public science engagement by affiliated graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty working in or beyond the university community, with four $1000 awards per institution. Project eligibility and evaluation guidelines was determined by AAAS and the host institution.  Prizes was awarded by a panel chosen by AAAS and the host institution, with input from event attendees.

PLEASE NOTE: APPLICATIONS HAVE CLOSED AND PARTNERSHIPS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED. Submissions were made by e-mail according to the instructions listed in the application instructions. A minimum of five selected universities were contacted by AAAS no later than MARCH 31st 2018. The campus events were scheduled in consultation with the host institution in academic year 2018-2019.

If you are interested in learning more about this project, please email us at doser@aaas.org with "Engaging Scientists Inquiry" as the subject heading.