The TMC Minute

The Power of Partnership: Learning from Memphis, Learning With One Another 

At the Turley Memphis Center, we often talk about what it means to be a good partner to Memphis. This month's TMC Minute highlights two very different but equally important examples of what that commitment looks like in practice. Both remind us that meaningful community engagement begins with listening, grows through relationships, and requires a willingness to tackle complex challenges together. 

Few challenges facing Memphis are more urgent than housing insecurity and homelessness. For years, Rhodes has been proud to partner with The Hospitality Hub, an extraordinary Memphis organization dedicated to helping individuals and families experiencing homelessness find stability, dignity, and a pathway to permanent housing. Our faculty and students are contributing to this important work in ways that demonstrate the power of connecting academic research with community expertise. Professors Evie Perry and Hadi Khoshneviss, for example, are working closely with Hospitality Hub staff and residents of Hub Hall, a transitional housing program for young adults ages 18–24. Their research underscores the importance of creating safe, supportive environments where young people have the time, autonomy, and resources to imagine and build more stable futures. 

This work complements another outstanding example of community-engaged scholarship at Rhodes. Professor Peter Hossler and students in our Research for Action (R4A) Lab recently collaborated with Dragonfly Studio and the Memphis Public Interest Law Center on Haunted Housing 2025: The Reality of Being a Renter in Memphis. The report documents troubling conditions confronting Memphis renters, including structural deterioration, inadequate heating and cooling, plumbing problems, and the challenges tenants face when seeking repairs. More importantly, it gives voice to residents whose experiences too often go unheard. This is community-engaged research at its best: students developing valuable research skills while working alongside community partners to produce knowledge that can inform advocacy, policy, and meaningful change. I encourage you to explore the report and learn more about this important work. 

Our second highlight this month takes us from local partnerships to a national conversation about the role of higher education in strengthening communities and democracy. October 18–20, Rhodes had the tremendous privilege of hosting the 2026 Project Pericles Program Directors' Conference, welcoming colleagues from colleges and universities across the country who share our commitment to civic learning and community engagement. As Project Pericles celebrates its 25th anniversary, this gathering provided an opportunity to exchange ideas, examine challenges, share innovative practices, and reflect on what it means to educate students to become thoughtful, engaged citizens. 

Of course, we wanted our guests to experience Memphis—not simply hear about it! From the National Civil Rights Museum to the Memphis Listening Lab at Crosstown Concourse, our city provided a powerful backdrop for conversations about democracy, history, culture, justice, and belonging. Our Rhodes faculty and staff also shared innovative work in community health, community dialogue, the liberal arts in prison, and place-based teaching and research. Just as importantly, we learned from colleagues across the country who are reimagining how colleges can become more deeply connected to the communities they serve. 

As I shared with our visitors, at Rhodes we often say that Memphis is our classroom. I would take that one step further: Memphis is also our teacher. It challenges us to confront difficult questions, embrace different perspectives, and recognize that the most meaningful learning often happens when we venture beyond our campus and engage with the people and places around us. 

Whether we are collaborating with The Hospitality Hub to better understand homelessness, conducting research that amplifies the voices of Memphis renters, or welcoming national colleagues to learn from our city, the guiding principle remains the same: community engagement is not something we simply do for Memphis. It is something we build with Memphis. And when those relationships are authentic, reciprocal, and sustained, our students, our college, and our community are all stronger for it. 

Each month, we highlight members of the Rhodes community who are making an impact across Memphis through service, scholarship, and connection. Click the button to learn more about their impact in the community.