Center for Science and Society

The Center for Science and Society brings together scholars, students, and practitioners across fields inside and outside of academia to: - Break down traditional disciplinary silos - Create new interdisciplinary models of teaching and collaboration - Support scientific research and engagement driven by community knowledge and needs - Enhance public understanding of science and its relation to pressing social issues * * * **Background** Climate change, healthcare, and technological innovation; these challenges can’t be solved by the natural sciences or the humanities alone. Today’s university must look beyond its campus and combine research, teaching, and outreach to confront these challenges from all sides, understanding that meaningful knowledge exchange happens in the process, not just the product. Community participation can drive research; faculty gain insights from their students’ lived experiences; and learning is not limited to a classroom. These impacts are magnified when participants come from different fields. Interdisciplinarity’s importance may seem obvious. Yet universities are built around departmental silos. The opportunity to work and learn with people from across fields and outside communities is rare. To meet the challenges ahead, we must build a university that supports and sustains collaborative inquiry. Since 2014, the Center for Science and Society has helped remove the barriers to interdisciplinary and collaborative work through programming, funding opportunities, and community building.