Scholar

For other uses, see Scholar (disambiguation).

The Scholar and His Books by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal degree, such as a master's degree or a doctorate (PhD). Independent scholars and public intellectuals work outside the academy yet may publish in academic journals and participate in scholarly public discussion.

Definitions

In contemporary English usage, the term scholar sometimes is equivalent to the term academic, and describes a university-educated individual who has achieved intellectual mastery of an academic discipline, as instructor and as researcher. Moreover, before the establishment of universities, the term scholar identified and described an intellectual person whose primary occupation was professional research. In 1847, minister Emanuel Vogel Gerhart spoke of the role of the scholar in society:

Gerhart argued that a scholar can not be focused on a single discipline, contending that knowledge of multiple disciplines is necessary to put each into context and to inform the development of each:

A 2011 examination outlined the following attributes commonly accorded to scholars as "described by many writers, with some slight variations in the definition":<ref name="Meleis">Afaf Ibrahim Meleis, Theoretical Nursing: Development and Progress (2011), p. 17.</ref>

Scholars may rely on the scholarly method or scholarship, a body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public. It is the methods that systemically advance the teaching, research, and practice of a given scholarly or academic field of study through rigorous inquiry. Scholarship is creative, can be documented, can be replicated or elaborated, and can be and is peer-reviewed through various methods.<ref>Aacn.nche.edu, Retrieved 15OCT2012 Archived 2017-07-15 at the Wayback Machine.</ref>

Role in society

Scholars have generally been upheld as creditable figures of high social standing, who are engaged in work important to society. In Imperial China, in the period from 206 BC until AD 1912, the intellectuals were the Scholar-officials ("Scholar-gentlemen"), who were civil servants appointed by the Emperor of China to perform the tasks of daily governance. Such civil servants earned academic degrees by means of Imperial examination, and also were skilled calligraphers, and knew Confucian philosophy. Historian Wing-Tsit Chan concludes that:

Generally speaking, the record of these scholar-gentlemen has been a worthy one. It was good enough to be praised and imitated in 18th century Europe. Nevertheless, it has given China a tremendous handicap in their transition from government by men to government by law, and personal considerations in Chinese government have been a curse.<ref>Charles Alexander Moore, ed. (1967). The Chinese Mind: Essentials of Chinese Philosophy and Culture. U of Hawaii Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780824800758.</ref>

In Joseon Korea (1392–1910), the intellectuals were the literati, who knew how to read and write, and had been designated, as the chungin (the "middle people"), in accordance with the Confucian system. Socially, they constituted the petite bourgeoisie, composed of scholar-bureaucrats (scholars, professionals, and technicians) who administered the dynastic rule of the Joseon dynasty.<ref>The Korea Foundation (February 12, 2016). Koreana – Winter 2015. pp. 73–74. ISBN 9791156041573.</ref>

In his 1847 address, Emmanuel Vogel Gerhart asserted that scholars have an obligation to rigorously continue their studies, so as to remain aware of new knowledge being generated,<ref name="Gerhart"/> and to contribute their own insights to the body of knowledge available to all:

Many scholars are also professors engaged in the teaching of others. In a number of countries, the title "Research Professor" refers to a person who is primarily engaged in research, and who has few or no teaching obligations. The title is used in this sense in the United Kingdom, where it is known as Research Professor at some universities, and Professorial Research Fellow at other institutions and in northern Europe.

Research Professor is quite often the most senior rank of a research-focused career in the U.K and northern Europe, and regarded as equal in rank, to a teaching full professorship. Frequently, the job of research professor has permanent employment, like a tenured professor in the U.S., and the position is held by a particularly distinguished scholar. Thus, the title is seen as more prestigious than a teaching full professorship.

A research professorship, has a somewhat similar sense of prestige in the United States, with an exception that research professors in the U.S. are often non-permanent positions, that must fund their salaries from external sources.<ref>"Classification of Ranks and Titles | Faculty Handbook". www.bu.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2023-04-11.</ref> This is not the case in most other countries.

Independent scholars

An independent scholar is anyone who conducts scholarly research outside universities and traditional academia. In 2010, twelve percent of US history scholars were independent.<ref name="ubc">"Independent Scholars". history.ubc.ca. UBC. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.</ref> Independent scholars typically have a Master's degree or PhD.<ref name="ubc"/> In history, independent scholars can be differentiated from popular history hosts for television shows and amateur historians "by the level to which their publications utilize the analytical rigour and academic writing style".<ref name="ubc"/>

In previous centuries, some independent scholars achieved renown, such as Samuel Johnson and Edward Gibbon during the 18th century and Charles Darwin and Karl Marx in the 19th century, and Sigmund Freud, Sir Steven Runciman, Robert Davidsohn and Nancy Sandars in the 20th century. There was also a tradition of the man of letters, such as Evelyn Waugh. The term "man of letters" derives from the French term belletrist or homme de lettres but is not synonymous with "an academic".<ref>The Oxford English Reference Dictionary Second Edition, (1996) p. 130.</ref><ref>The New Cassel's French–English, English–French Dictionary (1962) p. 88.</ref> In the 17th and 18th centuries, the term Belletrist(s) came to be applied to the literati: the French participants in—sometimes referred to as "citizens" of—the Republic of Letters, which evolved into the salon aimed at edification, education, and cultural refinement.

In the United States, a professional association exists for independent scholars: this association is the National Coalition of Independent Scholars. In Canada, the equivalent professional association is the Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars (in association with Simon Fraser University). Similar organizations exist around the world. Membership in a professional association generally entails a degree of post-secondary education and established research.<ref>Gross, Ronald (1993). The Independent Scholar's Handbook. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-89815-521-5.</ref><ref>Gross, Ronald (1991). Peak Learning: How to Create Your Own Lifelong Education Program for Personal Enlightenment and Professional Success. New York City: J.P. Tarcher. ISBN 0-87477-957-X.</ref> When independent scholars participate in academic conferences, they may be referred to as an unaffiliated scholar, since they do not hold a position in a university or other institution.

While independent scholars may earn an income from part-time teaching, speaking engagements, or consultant work, the University of British Columbia calls earning an income the biggest challenge of being an independent scholar.<ref name="ubc"/> Due to challenges of making a living as a scholar without an academic position, "[m]any independent scholars depend on having a gainfully employed partner".<ref name="ubc"/> To get access to libraries and other research facilities, independent scholars have to seek permission from universities.<ref name="ubc"/>

Writer Megan Kate Nelson's article "Stop Calling Me Independent" says the term "marginalizes unaffiliated scholars" and is unfairly seen as an indicator of "professional failure".<ref>Nelson, Megan (8 October 2017). "Stop Calling Me Independent". The Chronicle. Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.</ref> Rebecca Bodenheimer says that independent scholars, like herself, attending conferences and who also do not have a university name on their official name badge, feel like the "independent scholar" term is perceived as a "signal that a scholar is either unwanted by the academy or unwilling to commit to the sacrifices necessary to succeed as an academic".<ref>Bodenheimer, Rebecca (29 August 2017). "The Plight of the Independent Scholar". insidehighered.com. Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.</ref>

See also

• Category:Scholars – The category of scholars, people who study a field
• Scholarism (學民思潮) Hong Kong political movement
• Scholarship
• Scholasticism
• Autodidacticism
• Citizen science

External links

• Official website of the National Coalition of Independent Scholars