University Social and Public Engagement: Creative Nexuses for STEM Research and International Relations

Abstract

The three hallmarks of universities encompass: teaching; research; and public engagement. While the first two receive considerable attention, university global or international relations – via university social and public engagement – are also espoused by various university executives and senior faculty. Universities allocate considerable credence in faculty evaluations to obtaining prestigious research fellowships and grants such as Fulbright Fellowships, the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, Research Council of Great Britain, and those of philanthropic bodies like Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. Via such awards, academicians interact in domestic and international or global arenas in research projects in social sciences and STEM. In order to explore how research, especially in Science/STEM fields – indispensable features of society that provide the bedrock physical and social infrastructures – are linked, our chapter focuses on nexuses among university social and public engagement via Science and STEM research in international venues. Hence our presentation: (1) explicates conceptual and policy frameworks of university engagement in relation to diplomacy and/or international relations; (2) explores aspects of science and diplomacy referencing some historical endeavors; (3) portrays salient illustrations of universities’ and individuals’ interactive endeavors based upon national grants and prestigious fellowship (for example, the field work of our current NSF grant and Fulbright Fellowship) as part of university research and public engagement that Ministries of Foreign Affairs and government officials view as forms of diplomacy; and (4) synthesizing findings and positing policies for enhancing mutual science diplomacy and research as features of university social and public engagement in domestic and global venues.