My Art Studies class has been studying about citations available in scholarly writings and how citations (the important ones, not the boring bibliography ones) are used to create and shape the state of knowledge and to find out knowledge deficits in the argument presented. Pondering more on the matter, I realized that citations in scholarly writings serve as another medium for scholars to interact, communicate. This is reminiscent of the term “global citizens”, where a community a scholars from anywhere in the world can interact and communicate with each other, be it from the past or the present, and from the deceased and the yet-to-pass.

Through citation in an academic paper, an author can conduct a conversation between multiple other scholars that can be pro or against an argument the author is trying to make; using the established knowledge created by past scholars to create the author’s point-of-view in the argument. Granted, in undergraduate studies the use of citation could merely reflect a student’s understanding of the subject and willingness to research and explore the topic out of textbook. However, the fact that citations acknowledge other scholars and use their voices and stance  (albeit indirectly) on a certain argument is relevant to the concept of global citizenship and how in the world of academic writings, all (if not only the English-written ones) scholarly authors are connected through their encouragement to cite and refer other scholars to support or ridicule a notion.

Scholarly writings represent the state of a certain area the university or research institution is residing. For example, a sociology paper regarding the negative effects of the “War on Terror” on elementary students written by a scholar from a university located in Iran would have results from local elementary schools. This would help another scholar support or rebut the notion that negative effect of the “War on Terror” on elementary students exists, be it in Iran or some other place.

Eventually, a definitive argument on the matter will be written by some academic from one of the most prestigious universities in the world, pooling the opinions and ideas of scholars who had a say in the matter, enabling prospective academic writers (such as myself) to find a gap in their arguments and contribute something hopefully significant to the argument. This is similar to how people all around the world continue to create new kinds of knowledge off other people’s ideas, being inspired by some culture alien to them and their reaction to the culture, and how people everywhere continue to fill in the empty parts of this world, literally and figuratively.