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MAHONEY | REFLECTIONS

19

PAPER 5

 The Community Engagement Unconference 
was a validating and encouraging experience for me. 
I have been involved in community engagement 
throughout my entire IU career, but often I feel rather 
isolated in this work. Our university is so large, and 
we receive so much information that we are 
overwhelmed and lost when we try to connect with 
others who are doing community engagement. The 
Unconference gave us the opportunity to find our 
fellows. It was lovely to see and hear from others 
who are doing incredible and inspiring things in 
communities across the state.

 I appreciated hearing from administrators, 
faculty, staff, and students who are facing similar 
challenges, but even more, I loved hearing about 
their strategies, best practices, and resources. 

 Some put names to things I had experienced 
but never named myself. One of these was "cultural 
humility," a term that resonated deeply with me as a 
fundamental value we must incorporate into every 
community engagement initiative. Back in my 
undergraduate days, community engagement was a 
very different animal; we approached with a "we-
can-fix-your-problems" mentality. Thankfully, we 
know better now. We cannot go into a community 
with a deficit mentality, assuming we know what it 
needs. We must go in to "listen and listen again," 
asking questions not only about the community's 
needs, but also about its strengths. 

 Another invaluable aspect of the 
Unconference was the openness and creativity it 
encouraged. Rather than stodgily defending their 
"territory" or their "discipline," faculty were offering 
new, groundbreaking ideas to tackle big problems 
without being constrained by traditional notions of 
academia.  campuses, and across the state. We have 
so much to offer our students, our state, our nation, 
and our world. Staying married to how things have 
always been done will limit us to a future that is no 
better than our past. I was greatly heartened to hear 
faculty and administrators voicing innovative ideas to 
collaborate across departments, across campuses, and 
across the state. 
 

We cannot go into a 
community with a deficit 
mentality, assuming we 

know what it needs. We must 
go in to “listen and listen 

again,” asking questions not 
only about the community’s 

needs, but also about its 
strengths.

Jennifer Price Mahoney
Associate Director Senior Lecturer in English, IU Indianapolis Writing Program
 IU School of Liberal Arts IU Indianapolis 

Reflections on the Community Engagement
Unconference: Helping All Hoosiers Win

BENNION | MENU OF CIVICS PROJECTS 



PAPER 5

20

 Finally, I was energized by talking to people who are just as passionate as I am about 
making real change. Our university provides us with so many resources and opportunities to 
address serious issues like educational inequality, healthcare access, food deserts, climate change, 
water pollution, and racial injustice.  

 We still face many challenges in supporting and assessing our work. High-impact practices, 
such as service learning and community-based projects, require more time, energy, and emotional 
investment than the traditional lecture-discussion-test mode of teaching; the substantial work we 
put in is difficult to reflect in our annual reviews or promotion and tenure dossiers. Still, I left the 
Unconference feeling optimistic about where we are going as a university and what we can 
accomplish. After 23 years working with students on community-based research and service 
projects, I am more hopeful than ever that this work is valued and valuable, and our students will 
use their experiences to make a better future for all of us.

 All of our campuses – from Bloomington to Indianapolis, from South Bend to Kokomo – 
have experience, expertise, and energy that we can use toward making all our communities 
stronger, healthier, and more prosperous. Working together, we can accomplish so much more to 
help all Hoosiers, not just those of us wearing red and white.

BENNION | MENU OF CIVICS PROJECTS 


