CEL facilitates multi-institutional research on engaged learning topics. Participants from institutions around the world collaborate over three years, producing scholarship that shapes research and practice globally.
CEL is home to two book series. In addition, CEL research seminars and other initiatives have produced 100+ publications (to date).
CEL’s concise guides offer research-informed practices for engaged learning.
CEL’s concise guides offer practical strategies for studying engaged learning.
CEL brings together international leaders in higher education to develop, synthesize, and share rigorous research on central questions about student learning.
The CEL Scholar role and CEL Student Scholars program enable Elon faculty and students to deepen their understanding of and professional development in scholarly activity on engaged learning.
Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities. 2017. A Snapshot of Creative Placemaking in Higher Education. Ann Arbor, MI: Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities . https://a2ru.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Creative_Placemaking_2017-1.pdf.
Bain, Ken. 2021. "Books Behind Bars." In In Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning, 49-56. Princeton University: Princeton University Press.
Ball, Eric L, and Alice Lai. 2006. "Place-Based Pedagogy for the Arts and Humanities." Pedagogy 6 (2): 261-287. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-2005-003.
Basso, Keith H. 1996. Wisdom sits in places : landscape and language among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.
Black, Amanda, and Jason M Tylianakis. 2024. "Teach Indigenous Knowledge Alongside Science." Science 383 (6683): 592-594. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi9606.
Carlisle, Liz. 2022. Healing Grounds: climate, justice, and the deep roots of regenerative farming. Washington: Islands Press.
Frith, Jordan, and Jacob Ritcher. 2021. "Building participatory counternarratives: Pedagogical interventions through digital placemaking." Convergence 27 (3): 696-710. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856521991956.
García, Romeo. 2018. "Creating Presence from Absence and Sound from Silence." Community Literacy Journal 13 (1): 7-15. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/clj.2018.0017.
Gruenewald, David A. 2003. "The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place." Educational Researcher 32 (4): 3-12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X032004003.
I see potential for place-based approaches to not only make the course content personal, but also to situate the science and the person in their larger social contexts. Recommended by Meg Mobley.
Hartman, Eric, Richard Kiely, Christopher Boettcher, and Jessica Friedrichs . 2018. Community-Based Global Learning : The Theory and Practice of Ethical Engagement at Home and Abroad. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing, LLC.
Hatcher, Annamarie, Cheryl Bartlett, Albert Marshall, and Murdena Marshall. 2009. "Two-Eyed Seeing in the Classroom Environment: Concepts, Approaches, and Challenges." Canadian Journal of Science Mathematics and Technology Education 9 (3): 141-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/14926150903118342.
Holmes, Ashley J. 2024. Learning on Location: Place-Based Approaches for Diverse Learners in Higher Education. New York, NY: Routledge.
From the series foreword by Jessie L. Moore and Peter Felten:
“Learning on Location invites readers to reconsider the significant role place can play in higher education learning. . . . where students learn matters. Critical attention to place enables students not only to connect to particular classrooms (sometimes online ones) but also to engage meaningfully with the people, economic and political systesm, histories, and ecosystems that surround them in their daily lives. . . . In this book, Ashley J. Holmes offers a definition of learning on location, explores how faculty can leverage location to foster student learning, and offers rich examples of learning on location pedagogies-in-action. Examples stem from multiple disciplines and institutions, encouraging readers to consider how they might adapt their own course pedagogies to be place conscious.”
Hrach, Susan. 2024. "Significant Learning Beyond the Classroom." Minding Bodies (blog), June 9, 2024. https://susanhrachcom.wordpress.com/2024/06/12/significant-learning-beyond-the-classroom/.
I don’t do a great job of keeping up with blogs or podcasts, but I know Susan Hrach’s work and believe that embodied learning is crucial to place-based pedagogies. It also draws out the connection to contemplative pedagogies. Recommended by Kelsey Bitting.
Jones, Jennifer. 2021. "Place-Based Learning and Critical Student Reflection at the Man from Snowy River Bush Festival: A Model for Embedding Indigenous Perspectives in Non‑Specialist Subjects." Higher Education Research & Development 41 (6): 1916-1930. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1969539.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. 2013. Braiding Sweetgrass. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed Editions.
Kligyte, Giedre, Alex Baumber, Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer, Cameron Dowd, Bem Le Hunte, Marcus Newton, Dominica Roebuck, and Susanne Pratt. 2019. "'Stepping In and Stepping Out': Enabling Creative Third Spaces Through Transdisciplinary Partnerships." International Journal for Students as Partners 3 (1): 5-21. https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/ijsap/article/view/3735.
Lowenstein, Ethan, Imandeep Kaur Grewal, Nigora Erkaeva, Rebecca Nielsen, and Lisa Voelker. 2018. "A Model Whose Time Has Come: Place-Based Teacher Education." Issues in Teacher Education 27 (2): 37-58. https://www.itejournal.org/wp-content/pdfs-issues/summer-2018/06lowensteinetal.pdf.
Lynch, Jonathan, and Greg Mannion. 2021. "Place-responsive Pedagogies in the Anthropocene: attuning with the more-than-human." Environmental Education Research 27 (6): 864-878. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1867710.
Mitchler, Sharon. 2023. Critical Rural Pedagogy: Connecting College Students with American Literature. Champagne, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Montgomery, Jason. 2020. "Learning Places: Place-Based Learning in an Interdisciplinary Approach to Undergraduate Research." In Interdisciplinary Team Teaching: A Collaborative Study of High-Impact Practices, edited by Reneta D. Lansiquot, 57-84. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Available at https://academicworks.cuny.edu/ny_pubs/680/
I recommend this article because it demonstrates how place-based learning, when paired with interdisciplinary teaching, can transform undergraduate research into an accessible and engaging high-impact practice. It offers practical strategies for using local environments to foster student agency, critical thinking, and meaningful connection to real-world issues. Recommended by Charissa Lee.
Moore, Jessie L., and Nolan Schultheis. 2024. "Learning, Space, and Place in Higher Education (with Susan Hrach and Ashley Holmes)." Making College “Worth It” (Podcast), January 22, 2024. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/learning-space-and-place-in-higher-education/.
In this episode, Jessie and Nolan visit with two members of the research seminar’s leadership team. Susan Hrach is the author of Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning (West Virginia UP, 2021), which was recognized with the 2022 Silver Nautilus Book Award for Social Sciences and Education. Ashley Holmes is the author of Learning on Location: Place-Based Approaches for Diverse Learners in Higher Ed (Routledge, 2023). Recommended by Jessie Moore.
Motley, Phillip, Beth Archer-Kuhn, Catharine Hondzel, Jennifer Dobbs-Oates, Michelle Eady, Janel Seeley, and Rosemary Tyrrell. 2024. "Defining immersive learning." Teaching & Learning Inquiry 12: 1-25. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.12.9.
Noah, Trevor . 2025. "Esther Perel – One of My Favorite People ." What Now? with Trevor Noah Podcast, May 29, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss1zseYy7J8.
Powers, Amy L. 2004. "An Evaluation of Four Place-Based Education Programs." Journal of Environmental Education 35 (4): 17-32. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOEE.35.4.17-32.
Semken, Steven , and Carol Butler Freeman. 2008. "Sense of Place in the Practice and Assessment of Place-Based Science Teaching." Science Education 92 (6): 1042-1057. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20279.
Semken, Steven, Emily Geraghty Ward, Sadredin Moosavi, and Pauline WU Chinn. 2017. "Place-based Education in Geoscience: Theory, Research, Practice, and Assessment." Journal of Geoscience Education 65 (4): 542-562. https://doi.org/10.5408/17-276.1.
Stachowiak, Bonni. 2020. "Place-Based Learning with Amy Sprowles & Matthew Johnson." Teaching in Higher Ed (Podcast), December 31, 2020. https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/place-based-learning/.
I recommend this podcast to those exploring place-based pedagogy because it offers practical examples of how embedding learning in local environments can deepen student engagement and relevance. The conversation highlights strategies for connecting academic content with community and ecological contexts, making it especially useful for educators designing experiential learning experiences. Recommended by Charissa Lee.
This podcast helps me to connect place based learning with community and service learning. Recommended by Shawn Xiong.
This podcast explores place-based learning at Humboldt State University, emphasizing interdisciplinary, culturally rooted education and offers insights into setting up learning communities centered on place. Recommended by Elisa Gargarella.
Though focused on STEM, this episode offers a model for how place-based learning can foster belonging, retention, and equity—especially for first-year and underserved students. The ideas translate well across disciplines, showing how anchoring learning in local landscapes and cultures can transform student experience in any field. Recommended by Jeremy Ricketts.
Also recommended by Michelle Corvette.
Stevenson, Robert. 2008. "A critical pedagogy of place and the critical place(s) of pedagogy." Environmental Education Research 14 (3): 353-360. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620802190727.
Vander Ark, Tom, Emily Liebtag, and Nate McClennen. 2020. The Power of Place: Authentic Learning Through Place-Based Education. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Yemini, Miri, Laura Engel, and Simon B Adi . 2025. "Place-Based Education – A Systematic Review of Literature." Educational Review 77 (2): 640-660. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2023.2177260.
This review article is a very helpful overview of place-based learning. Recommended by Beate Brunow.
