The Collective

Radically reimagining how the university collaborates to create knowledge

A scene from Precipice, which brought together performances, panels, and workshops at The Center in New York City (left) and tech magazine Logic(s), right.

In our collaborations with artists, activists, and organizers, Incite has created models for how institutions like Columbia can work with collaborators outside the university, resisting one-directional sharing of expertise, attitudes, and concerns. Our approach has led to dozens of partnerships and brought hundreds of people into Columbia’s orbit, centering our partners so that their ideas—with our support—can change the world.

The Collective deepens this commitment by working with partners to identify new financial, governance, and operational structures that align with their needs and values. The Collective is a hub for networks of people with a diversity of lived and academic expertise by creating with and learning from each other. It addresses a critical gap in the academic and civil society landscape by creating a site for public intellectuals to freely express and develop ideas capable of inciting change and justice.

This effort represents a significant expansion of Incite’s mission, shifting our focus not just from how we move knowledge to action, but also how action shapes and moves knowledge. This has been demonstrated in our recent work—building a studio on the Lower East Side, providing financial support and a platform for farmers and workers organizing in the Philippines, funding a collective of unhoused people to tell their stories on their terms, and so much more.

Projects

The collective is home to several projects, partnerships and initiatives. Throughout the 2024-25 academic year we will publicize our work and announce more partner organizations and projects.