Expanding Scholarly Conversation Through Media Engagement: A Two-Part Workshop
Co-organizers: Roopa Trilokekar & Khaled Barkaoui
Co-sponsored by: The Faculty of Education and Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
Workshop Leader: Michelle Stack
Are you wondering why, as an academic, you would want to engage with media, particularly in the current moment of heightened threats to academic freedom and widespread disinformation?
This two-part interactive workshop, led by Michelle Stack and Jordan Michael Smith, explores why engaging with media matters for scholars and how it can help amplify the impact of their research beyond academia to shape public discourse and inform policy.
Part 1: Why Media Engagement Matters
Date: Tuesday, April 14th, 2026, 10:00AM-12:00PM
Location: Zoom
This session explores how engaging with media can strengthen your knowledge mobilization and exchange efforts, while amplifying the impact of your research beyond the walls of academia. It examines how media engagement can strengthen the visibility, relevance, and real-world influence of your work and how journalists, researchers, and policymakers differ in their timelines, priorities, definition of what research is, and why understanding these differences matters when deciding whether and how to engage media, and ultimately how to utilize scholarship to help shape public policy. The session also covers practical strategies for crafting clear messages and pitching story ideas effectively and includes a panel discussion on the potential benefits and risks of different forms of media engagement.
Part 2: How Scholars Can Engage Media Effectively
Date: Monday, April 27th, 2026, 10:00AM-2:30PM (Lunch will be served 12:00-1:00PM)
Location: 280 N York Lanes
This session focuses on how to create your own media by selecting formats and genres that best align with your goals. It features a presentation from York鈥檚 Media Relations & External Communications department on the support services available, along with a hands-on workshop where participants develop, review and refine their media pitches through small-group working sessions with guidance and feedback. The session also emphasizes building collective strategies and support networks for proactive media outreach and for responding effectively to potential backlash.
, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at UBC, will be leading both sessions. She has received recognition for her work in public engagement, including the UBC Public Humanities Hub Engagement Award, and has served as a UBC Knowledge Mobilization Scholar. Journalists frequently interview her, and she has previous experience as a communications director and policy consultant.
is a contributing editor at the New Republic. His writing has appeared in print and online for many publications, including the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, Harper鈥檚, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail. Toronto Star, and Maclean鈥檚
