Extension Educators as Public Intellectuals

Jim Langcuster, Communications & Marketing Specialist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, @extensionguy

Anne Mims Adrian, Social Media Strategist, Military Families Learning Network-eXtension, @aafromaa

Natalie Hummel, Associate Professor and Entomologist, LSU Ag Center, @nathummel

April 2012#PILD2012

Who is Frank Kovac?

"World's largest rolling, mechanical globe planetarium"

The Frank Kovac

Effect

"To be a planetarium director, you need college, but if you build your own, you can run it!"

Frank Kovac

Transformed Educator

Consumers vs. ProsumersPassive vs. Active

Extension's and Educators' Challenges

Overwhelming and ever growing amount of information

Democratization dialogue

Cacophony of voices

User generated content, filters, & distribution

Media mediating human relationships (Mike Welsch)

Extension's and Educators' Challenges

Instantaneous Communications

Ubiquitous Communications and Pervasive

Proximity (UCaPP-Mark Federman)

We are the musicians, the instruments, and the music itself.Mark Federman

What is Extension's Function Today?

Post Morrill Act Challenges

Fewer people know of Cooperative Extension

A need to continue making ag production more efficient

Public challenges to technological advances in ag is growing

There is a growing need to make sense of trends and what seems to be conflicts and misapplying research

Tale of Three Extension Educators

Aggregators and Curators

Natalie Hummel, PhD

John Fulton, PhD

Aggregators and Curators

Ron Smith, PhD

What is a Public Intellectual?

Someone who deals with ideas and knowledge within the context of public discourse, usually within mass media.

What is a Public Intellectual?

Op-ed pieces, magazine columns, Sunday morning network news interview programs, interviewed on public radio/TV.

Social media, an important addition, may be the front door to the mass media presence.

A Public Intellectual bridges the gap

Traits of Public Intellectuals

passionate

opinionated

highly literate

scholarly, though not necessarily

academic

A Public Intellectual: David Brooks author of The Social Animal

Why Extension as Public Intellectuals?

Have understanding of current scientific models and science

Can bridge the divide between opposing opinions

Articulate the elements of scientific models

Explain importance of science in context

We have always functioned as public intellectuals at the grassroots level i.e. Weekly Column

Public Intellectuals

Develop and support spokespersons at national, state and local level

Listen and understand debates

Aggregate, curate and make sense

Build reputation for providing value

Be active in online social spaces

Practice disruptive messaging

A Cadre of Public Intellectuals

Social mediaOp-ed writersEffective and compelling speakersDevelop disruptive messaging

Supported (Extension administration and Communication Units) as spokespersons

Extension's Public Intellectuals

A vanguard of educators engaging with other public intellectuals within national channels of discourse

Providing insights within deeply enriched contexts

Moral Obligation as Public Servants

“…no scholar, historian or anyone else is — merely by being a scholar — ethically excused from their own circumstances. We are also participants in our own time and place and cannot retreat from it…”

Tony Judt

Photo Credits

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wisconsin_in_United_States.svg

Frank Kovac gave us permission to use photos from the Frank Kovac’s planetarium http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/120170865/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/6616044067/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnygoldstein/3650745193/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/donabelandewen/3584154214/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfobrien/3382977725

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanderwal/3092468625/

Extension Educators as Public Intellectuals by Jim Langcuster, Anne Mims Adrian, and Natalie Hummel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

When using photos from this presentation, please note and adhere to their CC license.