What exactly is a public intellectual? Can it be a blogger, a comedian, a teacher, a scientist, a historian, a celebrity, a small-town government official? Or does a public intellectual transcend these categories? How have our conceptions of public intellectuals changed over time? How does an intellectual function in the public sphere today? Who listens to the public intellectual?

The Graduate Program in History and Culture at Drew University looks forward to discussing these questions and more at Thinking Publicly, a conference on public intellectuals, on June 7-8, 2013. Through this conference we hope to provide a space for emerging scholars to voice their perspectives on public intellectualism. We aim to broaden our ideas about public intellectuals and go beyond the limiting boundaries between disciplines. We highly encourage proposals from graduate students in all fields. New scholars, working public intellectuals, and independent scholars are also welcome to submit.