In this conversation, Professor Michelle Fine, mentor to PublicsLab Fellow Britney Moreira, talks about the relationship between participatory action research and public scholarship, as well as the critical role public scholars play in supporting the implementation of just social policies.

The interview was recorded by Jess Applebaum on March 13, 2023

PDF Transcript: Interview with PublicsLab Mentor, Professor Michelle Fine

For me the word public is a verb. That is, it’s a way of doing scholarly work alongside, in, for, about, and with larger publics. I think of public as a rendering of membranes porous between the academy and the communities to which we should be obligated to tell another story.

– Michelle Fine

Michelle Fine is a Distinguished Professor of Critical Psychology, Women’s Studies, Social Welfare, American Studies and Urban Education at the Graduate Center, CUNY and founding faculty member of The Public Science Project, a university-community research space designed in collaboration with movements for racial and educational justice. In addition, I am humbled to be recognized as Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa (UNISA) Psychology department, 2021 – 2024. As a scholar, expert witness in litigation, a teacher and an educational activist, my work centers theoretically and epistemically on questions of justice and dignity, privilege and oppression, and how solidarities emerge.

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