Slavic studies goes public: who? what? why? where? when?

Public engagement, impact, and knowledge exchange are concepts that today feature prominently on research agendas across the UK. Yet institutional understanding of what constitutes engagement, on the politics and practicalities of building collaborations with non-academic partners, and on the ethics of conducting such work is still far from perfect. This special collection, comprising six short essays and three critical-creative pieces, reflects on the institutional obstacles and professional rewards that engagement work can generate. It showcases a number of exciting public engagement projects ongoing in our field, but also provides a space for self-reflection, institutional criticism, and the expression of dissent. In order to facilitate these (sometimes difficult) conversations, the contributions are structured around a series of questions relating to the politics and practicalities of conducting public engagement work: What institutional factors and politics inform and determine the “who” of our public engagement work? How can the us/them dichotomy be rethought and with it the idea of “giving voice” to “voiceless” communities? How can those leading projects be sure that the legacy or change is desired by or necessary for the communities engaged? When does engagement end? When should it never have begun? Rather than close down these important discussions, we intend this series to form a point of departure, engendering further conversations, collaborations, and creativity on the public engagement theme.