We are thrilled to announce that the UC Center for Public Engagement with Science has initiated a new interdisciplinary book series with Cambridge University Press: Elements in Public Engagement with Science. The series will be edited by PEWS Director Angela Potochnik and PEWS Associate Director Melissa Jacquart, together with a multidisciplinary and international editorial board.
Cambridge Elements consist of thematic volumes by different authors, intermediate in length between a book and an article. Cambridge describes Elements as “original, succinct, authoritative, and peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific research, organized into focused series edited by leading scholars, and [providing] comprehensive coverage of the key topics in disciplines spanning the arts and sciences.” Cambridge has developed robust lists of series in many disciplines; you can browse the full list of Cambridge Elements series here.
This new series, Elements in Public Engagement with Science, is an interdisciplinary exploration of academic research and professional expertise related to interfaces between science and the public. Its aim is to make accessible to a broader audience of academics and public engagement professionals specialized knowledge bearing on public engagement with science and ground-breaking research in areas of public engagement with science.
‘Public engagement with science’ is an umbrella term that includes science communication, formal and informal science education, community participation in scientific research, science policy, and any other interfaces between science and the public. This series anticipates that treating these topics alongside one another in an interdisciplinary forum will advance both theory and practice of public engagement with science.
PEWS leaders and University of Cincinnati Philosophy faculty, Angela Potochnik and Melissa Jacquart, will serve as Editors-in-Chief of the new series. The Editorial Board is multidisciplinary and international in its membership, including Kelly Joyce (Department of Sociology and the Center for Science, Technology and Society, Drexel University), Kostas Kampourakis (University Teacher Education Institute and the Section of Biology, University of Geneva), Rae Ostman (School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Center for Innovation in Informal STEM Learning, Arizona State University; director of the National Informal STEM Education Network, or NISE Net), Luisa Massarani (Coordinator of Brazil’s National Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology; regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean of SciDev.net), Shobita Parthasarathy (Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan), and Dione Rossiter (Executive Director of Science at Cal at University of California, Berkeley).
Cambridge Elements offer many digital and freely available features that can productively advance interdisciplinary scholarship and the public-facing mission of PEWS. Cambridge University Press developed the Elements format for a digital environment, so many Elements offer features like in-line video or audio, and Cambridge also produces podcasts and videos to accompany their Elements series.
Keep an eye out for future announcements of the first two Cambridge Elements in Public Engagement with Science. These first two volumes will be published open access, so freely available online to everyone.
