Engaging in Societal Collaboration Through Reflexivity: Experiences from a Cross-Disciplinary Pilot Course for Faculty

There is limited understanding of how education initiatives geared toward faculty and support staff can foster a capacity for long-term and integrated societal engagement and collaboration within higher education institutions. Using the experiences from a cross-disciplinary pilot course in Sweden, the current study aims to identify features that explicate how skills and academic rigor for engaging in societal collaboration can be developed toward a “reflexive scholarship of societal collaboration.” Based on a case study of the course, we identify the need for (i) theoretical orientation, (ii) collective reflections among diverse participants, and (iii) application of gained knowledge in real-world contexts. Building on the experiences from the pilot course, we explore and discuss the participants’ reflections on how their partaking in the course may support a reflexive scholarship of societal collaboration. Our study is relevant to managers and policymakers interested in nurturing long-term and integrated collaborations between academia and various societal actors.