What is Social Embeddedness?

Social Embeddedness refers to how closely a university is connected with the community that surrounds it. At ASU, we’re trying to build those connections as two-way relationships: mutually beneficial partnerships so that the university and the community are equal stakeholdersand beneficiaries in any collaborative project.

Why is ASU talking about it?

At ASU, we believe that a university shouldn’t be a bubble or sit upon a (metaphorical) hill. A university shouldn’t be cut off from the people and places that surround it, but instead should partner with those people and places. We should be a source for the community: of music, of information, of learning, of art, of innovation, of influence, of collaboration. And the community is a resource for the university. What better way to know that your work makes an impact than to study questions that are immediately apparent in the world around you? Why not foster participation from academic, non-profit, corporate, faith-based, and neighborhood communities in order to solve common problems? These are the issues that drive us.

What is ASU doing about it?

ASU is becoming a socially embedded university. This means really listening to and working with the community to understand community needs. It means that the community informs the work of the university so that faculty research can be applied to significant, current issues. It means creating opportunities for students to do academic work outside the classroom and outside of a campus so that they can build careers that have a meaningful impact in the world. All across the university, faculty and students are already building these mutually beneficial partnerships with members of the community and organizations throughout the Valley of the Sun. And each partnership looks different. There are as many manifestations of socially embedded partnerships as there are people to take part in them.

How is UI involved?

UI has been keeping tabs and spreading the word about social embeddedness, trying to bring as many people as possible into the conversation about what it is and how we can do a better job of it. One of the ways we have done this is by creating and maintaining the ASU in the Community web site. This site provides a constantly evolving database of all the socially embedded programs connected to ASU, and the site’s newsletter, the Community Camera, highlights one of these programs every two weeks, in an effort to bring tangible examples into the service of abstract concepts. UI also sponsors events, prizes, and informational sessions on this topic, and connects with other university departments in order to help the university continue partnering with the many communities that surround it.