Making the Case for Academia’s Engagement in Knowledge - Mobilization and Purposeful Public Scholarship in Social Media

Oct 15, 2026

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Advocates for academia’s engagement in knowledge mobilization and public scholarship through social media, arguing that new technological modes can integrate scholarly work into wider public discourse. Uses Sun Tzu’s Art of War to frame timely, strategic participation within contemporary school reform and education privatization debates. Examines potential professional impacts, including peer-reviewed work, tenure considerations, and community-engaged research commitments, concluding that mobilizing empirical scholarship to social platforms addresses academics’ persistent lack of influence and relevance in public conversations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Academia, knowledge mobilization, and public scholarship in social media

Defining public scholarship and preferred formats

Art of War as a conceptual framework

| | Making the Case for Academia’s Engagement in Knowledge: Mobilization and Purposeful Public Scholarship in Social Media | | --- | --- | | | | Julian Vasquez Heilig, University of Kentucky T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia Abstract: To make the case for academia’s engagement in knowledge mobilization and public scholarship in social media, we begin by providing a justification for the use of new technological modes for integrating scholarly endeavors. As an example, Sun Tzu ’sArt of Warphilosophy is applied to academic scholarship within the present school reform discourse and education privatization landscape. Next, we discuss how public scholarship in social media can impact aspects of the profession such as peer-reviewed work, the tenure process and commitment to community-engaged research. We conclude that public scholarship and the mobilization of empirical work into social media is an important endeavor to address the persisting lack of scholarly influence and relevance of academics in the public discourse. Keywords: public knowledge, public scholarship, social media It comes as little surprise that President Donald Trump and U. S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have continued the market-oriented educational reforms that were championed by George W. Bush, Barack Obama and their Secretaries of Education (Richardson, 2017) . That continuation is explicitly because of a persisting belief in the “manufactured crisis” which Berliner & Biddle (1995) argued is a political framing that the U.S. public education system is failing writ large. Furthermore, the failure narrative is being perpetuated by hundreds of millions of dollars that are being spent by foundations to sway public perception towards education privatization and privatecontrol (Blume, 2015) . Malin and Lubienski (2015) found that media outlets, stakeholders, and policymakers often get their information and soundbites originating from pro-privatization reform organizations in traditional media. Think tanks and intermediary organizations alike are also increasingly spending to sway public perception in print, online, and social media (Vasquez Heilig, Brewer, & Adamson, in press) . As a result, Facebook, Twitter and other technological mediums represent new and important forums for public discourse and knowledge mobilization. Most academics are not engaged in purposeful debates that include empirically based information in the public discourse (Berliner & Glass, 2014) . Should academics refrain—or at least pretend—to not engage in the public discourse and knowledge mobilization? Central to a discussion about the role of the academic in public discourse and knowledge mobilization is defining the importance and breadth of public scholarship. Academics often must weigh the contextual intricacies oftheir particular institution of higher education and gauge whether they are able to balance engagement in the public discourse relative to the culture of their home institution. In some places, it may be seen as improper to leverage the resources and platform of a faculty position in a university to engage in public scholarship, while in other institutions it may be welcomed and encouraged. Historically, the modus operandi of academics has been primarily to teach, research, populate journals with articles and author books. Scholarly knowledge is then commoditized by publishers and shielded behind paywalls. Considering the current information age, and the evolving role of scholarship in the new, free technological canvas of social media, an important set of meta questions are: Is the role ofan academic only to provide insights and research for the improvement of the collective good in traditional scholarly realms? Or should academics also engage scholarly work in social media to mobilize knowledge and impact the public discourse? Also, how should academia define public scholarship? Is it op-eds, testifying at state capitols, or traditional

FAQs

Why does the paper argue for academia’s engagement in knowledge mobilization through social media?

It argues that social media creates new forums for public discourse and can mobilize empirical scholarship, addressing the continuing lack of scholarly influence and relevance in public conversations.

What is the role of public scholarship in professional academic processes discussed in the text?

The paper discusses how public scholarship in social media may affect aspects of the profession, including peer-reviewed work, the tenure process, and commitment to community-engaged research.

How does the paper define or broaden the concept of public scholarship?

It considers public scholarship to include accessibly available contributions such as op-eds, testimony, interviews, and engagement on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as formats like podcasts.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by nayy☆