Introduction to the ACES Program

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About the ACES Program

Launched in January 2010, the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship (ACES) Program developed as a partnership between the American Cultures Center and the Public Service Center (http://publicservice.berkeley.edu(link is external)). This program aims to transform how faculty’s community-engaged scholarship is valued, to enhance learning for students through a combination of teaching and practice, and to create new knowledge that has an impact both in the community and the academy.
Today, ACES courses continue to be developed, providing opportunities for students to participate in collaborative projects with community partners, engage in experiential learning, create meaningful collaborative research environments with partners outside of the university, support reflective engagement on broad social issues and interests, and explore the possibilities and challenges of collaborative scholarship for both community partners and academic communities.
ACES courses work with community organizations building student and faculty research into...environmental justice, prison abolition, Indigenous movements... and social justice.
Gibor Basri, first Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion

2020 Summer/Fall American Cultures Engaged Scholarship (ACES) Program

Community-Engaged Learning and Remote Partnerships, Summer and Fall, 2020 (deadline ended)

Please note the application cycle for this program has closed (deadline was June 15th). If you have received funding and have any questions about the program, please address them to ACES Program Director, Victoria Robinson, and Associate Director of the Public Service Center, Andrea Wise.

In the current condition of remote instruction, the ACES program is committed to supporting faculty and students in finding ways to continue the commitments, trust, and relationships that have been developed through community-university partnerships. This commitment to UC Berkeley's public service is reflected in the 2020 ACES Summer/Fall proposal cycle. Several priorities have been emphasized to support community-engagement and engaged scholarship, with a specific emphasis on remote partnerships.  We encourage your application and thank you for the significant efforts being made to support our students and community partners in these difficult times. Review application.

Undergraduate Student Opportunities

ACES Courses

ACES courses transform how faculty’s community-engaged scholarship is valued, to enhance learning for students through a combination of teaching and practice, and to create new knowledge that has an impact both in the community and the academy. To see a list of ACES courses being offered this semester, please visit our ACES Courses page.

ACES Student Community Projects

ACES courses offer students and faculty the opportunity to work with community organizations to develop cutting edge research projects associated with some of the nation's most pressing social issues. To see examples of projects that students have developed in ACES courses with community partners, please visit our Student Community Projects page.

Graduate Student Opportunities

Learning Community for Graduate Scholar-Activists

In 2019, the ACES Program launched a learning community for graduate scholar-activists, a learning community that comprises workshops that discuss community engagement and scholar-activism and the opportunity for graduate students to build community together while exploring the importance of and connection between their academic studies, teaching, and research and their community relationships and social justice efforts.  Learn More.

Community Partnership Opportunities

Community Partners

Since January 2010, the ACES Program has collaborated with over 60 community partners to offer students opportunities to learn about histories of oppression, racism and social justice in the U.S., by engaging with community organizations and experts on these very issues as part of their AC class and the university's public mission.  Read More

Artist In Residence (AIR)

The ACES program appoints an Artist-in-Residence for ACES to work with Berkeley faculty, fellows, community partners, and students, in the integration of new media supporting the courses and collaborative relationships that constitute the engaged scholarship program of the AC Center.  Learn more.