This article is the first in the field of art education to critically examine global knowledge flows and the transformation of international scholars’ capital through the US–Taiwan case. This mixed‑methods research employed survey and semi‑structured interviews to explore the experiences of Taiwanese scholars who earned doctorates in the United States and later contributed to art education in Taiwan. Data analysis revealed three key themes: ‘knowledge as a commodity’, ‘branding and trading’ and ‘counter‑narratives to one‑way knowledge flows’. The findings suggest that these participants are not passive recipients of imposed knowledge but rather active agents who strategically select and disseminate US art education frameworks. This study underscores the critical agency of international scholars in redefining and reshaping art education landscapes in their home countries and beyond.
Wei et al. (Sun,) studied this question.