Posted 1:57 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025
Highlighting the power of community engagement within CASSH
This edition of Capstone features some of the many excellent and beneficial community engagement activities and initiatives in the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CASSH). CASSH embraces remarkable partnerships between our academic programs and the local community. As a regional public university, we should extend far beyond the classroom to both serve our community and utilize our community as a living laboratory for faculty and students. CASSH and the community interact not only through education, but also through collaboration, creativity and shared purpose.
Community engagement tremendously benefits our students by giving teaching and learning real-world meaning. When students work with local organizations, businesses, schools, non-profits and civic partners, they see how ideas explored in class connect to people’s lives and activities. Students learn to think critically, communicate clearly and act with empathy — all essential qualities for effective citizenship and leadership.
Faculty benefit from these partnerships as well. Collaborating with community members opens new avenues for research and creative activity. Whether it is an historian helping preserve local stories, a sociologist studying regional trends and interventions, or an artist working with neighborhood youth, community engagement enriches our research, scholarship and creative activity.
Our community partners benefit, too. Engagement with academic programs provides access to university resources, enthusiastic student interns and faculty expertise grounded in the latest research. These collaborations often lead to new insights, creative problem-solving and more effective operations. Many organizations say partnerships with CASSH students and faculty spark fresh ideas and strengthen their ability to serve the Coulee Region.
Community engagement in CASSH clearly creates a cycle of mutual benefit. Our students and faculty bring energy, talent, new perspectives and application of knowledge to the region. In return, the community gains inspiration, insight, and opportunities to apply innovative knowledge.
The Wisconsin Idea emerged in the early 1900s and became a guiding principle for the Universities of Wisconsin. It is still widely referenced today as a primary focus of higher education in the state. This philosophy states that the boundaries of the university should extend into communities since higher education exists not only to teach students and provide resources for faculty scholarship, but also to serve the public good through the sharing of knowledge, research and expertise. Within CASSH, the Wisconsin Idea is alive and well.
Karl Kunkel, Dean