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Abstract

As the nonprofit and philanthropic studies field achieves increased acceptance within colleges and universities, academics within the field must confront a conundrum: Most academics are inclined to develop academic programs that resemble the theory-oriented academic programs in which they were educated; most students who enroll in nonprofit programs, however, are current or future practitioners who are not preparing for—and are unlikely to pursue—academic careers in which theory development is a primary goal. The focus, here, is on two emerging perspectives on the role that theoretical knowledge should play in the nonprofit/philanthropic studies field and the implications of these perspectives for academic program development. One perspective is relatively traditional. The other requires a more radical rethinking of the form and function of theoretical knowledge in applied fields like nonprofit/philanthropic studies and a different approach to university preparation programs than the theory-dissemination approach found in traditional academic programs.

Keywords

theory use nonprofit academic programs nonprofit research orientations role of theory research utilization

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Theories About the Role of Theory in Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies

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