Mars, Matthew M | Public & Applied Humanities

mmars@arizona.edu

Mars, Matthew M

Professor

Matt Mars is an interdisciplinary scholar who teaches and writes about community innovation and the influence of market narratives on everyday life and routines. Matt’s research is published in a diverse range of journals that span sociology, marketing, community development, and higher education. Some examples of the journals he has published in include Community Development, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Higher Education, Marketing Theory, and Minerva. Matt’s current work explores the influence of visual narratives on the creation and identities of local consumption spaces, whether they be coffee shops, craft breweries, or farmers’ markets. Matt is currently the Co-Editor of Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth series (Emerald), Associate Editor of Community Development, and a member of the editorial board of Local Development & Society.

Matt has received multiple teaching awards and recognitions including being named Dorrance Scholarship Program Professor of Excellence in Teaching (2017-present), the USDA/APLU Excellence in College and University Teaching Award – Western Region (2020), and the APLU Innovative Teaching Award (2018).

Matt earned his PhD through the Center for the Study of Higher Education at The University of Arizona. He also holds an MEd in Counseling and Human Relations from Northern Arizona University and a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Utica College of Syracuse University.

Currently Teaching

PAH 150B2 – Car Nation: The Automobile and the American Experience

Whether Americans drive/ride in a car daily or almost never, they inhabit a nation, landscape, society, culture, and economy which were remade during the 20th century around the privately-owned automobile. Automobility is a national way of life. While more than a billion vehicles populate the planet today, the United States was the first mass-motorized society in the world. Consumers embrace the luxury, flexibility, and status of automobile ownership, while national leaders pursue automobile manufacturing as a path to prosperity and industrial prowess. This course is a road trip, exploring how cars have both propelled and reflected the American experience since the invention of the automobile in 1886. In this course we will examine the evolving nature of cars and their profound impact on American culture and society. The course examines current and future changes in the auto industry - from driverless cars to electric vehicles - that will have profound consequences for how we live and organize our lives. We will explore people's relationship to/through cars and the stories that describe and define those relationships.

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PAH 200 – Introduction to Applied Humanities

This courses introduces and helps students to practice a set of critical and practical skills developed specifically for understanding and improving the human condition. Over the course of the semester we will: 1) survey the origins and history of the applied humanities, paying particular attention to the intersection of ways of seeing and doing; 2) examine exemplary research-informed and publicly-facing projects for insight into how to theorize and improve life in the community and beyond; and 3) explore tools and techniques for engaging in small and large scale applied humanities endeavors.

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