Glossary
block vs. mute (Twitter): blocking means a user cannot access your content, but someone you block will be able to see that you have blocked them; muting means that you won’t see tweets from that user on your timeline, but they won’t know you’ve muted them; module 6
“boats”: the topics you want to write about for the public
“burying the lede”: waiting to state the argument of your piece, module 4
content-stacking: a way to increase the impact of your public scholarship by placing your work on/adapting it for multiple venues or platforms, module 8
core messaging: the one point you will emphasize aspects of from different angles during a time-constrained interview, module 7
“docks”: the “news hook” or occasion to write about your topics (“boats”)
doxxing: finding someone’s private information online and making it public, usually with the intent to encourage bad actors to threaten that person, module 2
expertise: your skill or knowledge in your field, stemming from your training, your research, your personal connections with your topic, your teaching, etc., module 3
explainers: short pieces of public writing that introduce a general audience to a concept, narrative, or basic facts about a community or practice you are an expert in, module 5
followers: the people who engage with you on social media, module 6
handle and display name: the titles people will use to find you on social media, module 6
hook: a scene, problem, or something counterintuitive and surprising placed at the beginning of a piece to catch and hold the reader’s attention, module 4
lede: the opening paragraph of short-form writing that engages the reader and establishes the topic/argument, module 5
like vs. retweet (Twitter): likes signal appreciation of a tweet without driving much traffic toward the tweeter; retweeting (RT) amplifies the original tweet, module 6
mute v. block (Twitter): muting means that you won’t see tweets from that user on your timeline, but they won’t know you’ve muted them; blocking means a user cannot access your content, but someone you block will be able to see that you have blocked them, module 6
op-eds: short argumentative pieces of writing designed to give readers new, big, or provocative ideas with the goal to change the reader’s mind, module 5
P.A.N.T.S.: An acronym to help you remember some of the most important parts of writing for public audiences.P is for PITCHES; A is for AUDIENCE; N is for NARRATIVE; T is for your TEACHER VOICE; S is for STYLE
“ports”: the venues where you might “dock” (place) your “boats” (topics)
pitch: a short proposal submitted to an editor or outlet to arouse interest for a piece of journalistic writing, module 4
public scholarship: any time a scholar shares their knowledge with audiences outside the academy, module 1
public scholarship values statement: an articulation of the principles you’d like to guide your public-facing work, module 8
pull quote: a short “sound bite” from a scholar quoted by a journalist in their piece, module 7
religious literacy: the ability to see how religion shapes the world around us, cultivated through public scholarship by encouraging audiences to ask questions about how religion works, how it gets used, and what it does in our world, module 1
retweet vs. like (Twitter): retweeting (RT) amplifies the original tweet; likes signal appreciation of a tweet without driving much traffic toward the tweeter, module 6
social media: platforms for public scholarship with the potential to reach more people than formal academic writing, module 6
T.A.G. R3: the Topic, Audience, and Goals of your public scholarship and the risk, rewards, and responsibilities of any public scholarship opportunity, module 1
thread: an effective, informative, series of connected tweets, module 6
tweet: a maximum 280-character remark on Twitter, module 6
wire service: an organization that syndicates, or distributes, content to many publications
at one time, module 4