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A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an
academic discipline An academic discipline or academic field is a subdivision of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part) and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, a ...
. 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 An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...
or a
terminal degree A terminal degree is the highest-level university degree that can be achieved and awarded in an academic discipline or professional field. The term "terminal degree" is also used to refer to a degree that is awarded because a doctorates, doctoral-le ...
, such as a master's degree or a doctorate (PhD). Independent scholars and
public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...
s 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 Emanuel Vogel Gerhart ( Freeburg, Pennsylvania, 13 June 1817 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 6 May 1904) was an American minister of the German Reformed Church and first president of Franklin and Marshall College. Some consider Gerhart the systematiz ...
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":Afaf Ibrahim Meleis, ''Theoretical Nursing: Development and Progress'' (2011), p. 17. Scholars may rely on the
scholarly method The scholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and practices used by scholars and academics to make their claims about their subjects of expertise as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly pub ...
or scholarship, a body of
principle A principle may relate to a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs or behavior or a chain of reasoning. They provide a guide for behavior or evaluation. A principle can make values explicit, so t ...
s 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 Rigour (British English) or rigor (American English; see spelling differences) describes a condition of stiffness or strictness. These constraints may be environmentally imposed, such as "the rigours of famine"; logically imposed, such as math ...
inquiry. Scholarship is creative, can be documented, can be replicated or elaborated, and can be and is
peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
through various methods.


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 The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
, in the period from 206 BC until AD 1912, the intellectuals were the ''
Scholar-official The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...
s'' ("Scholar-gentlemen"), who were civil servants appointed by the
Emperor of China Throughout Chinese history, "Emperor" () was the superlative title held by the monarchs of imperial China's various dynasties. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven", an autocrat with the divine mandat ...
to perform the tasks of daily governance. Such civil servants earned academic degrees by means of
Imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...
, and also were skilled calligraphers, and knew
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
philosophy. Historian Wing-Tsit Chan concludes that: In
Joseon Korea Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
(1392–1910), the intellectuals were the ''literati'', who knew how to read and write, and had been designated, as the
chungin The ''jungin'' or ''chungin'' () were the upper middle class of the Joseon Dynasty in medieval and early modern Korean society. The name "jungin" directly means "middle people". This privileged class of commoners consisted of a small group of ...
(the "middle people"), in accordance with the Confucian system. Socially, they constituted the
petite bourgeoisie ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, ; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a term that refers to a social class composed of small business owners, shopkeepers, small-scale merchants, semi- autonomous peasants, and artisans. They are named as s ...
, composed of scholar-bureaucrats (scholars, professionals, and technicians) who administered the dynastic rule of the Joseon dynasty. 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, 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, with an exception that research professors in the U.S. are often non-permanent positions, that must fund their salaries from external sources. 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
. In 2010, twelve percent of US history scholars were independent. Independent scholars typically have a Master's degree or PhD. 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". In previous centuries, some independent scholars achieved renown, such as
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
and
Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...
during the 18th century and
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
and
Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
in the 19th century, and
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
,
Sir Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman (7 July 1903 – 1 November 2000), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). His works had a profound impact on the popular ...
,
Robert Davidsohn Robert Davidsohn (26 April 1853 – 17 September 1937) was a German journalist and historian. He is known for his studies of History of Florence#Middle Ages, medieval Florence. References

* https://www.ngzg.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/for ...
and
Nancy Sandars Nancy Katharine Sandars (29 June 1914 – 20 November 2015) was a British archaeologist and prehistorian. As an independent scholar, she wrote a number of books and a popular version of the '' Epic of Gilgamesh''. Early life and education San ...
in the 20th century. There was also a tradition of the
man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the world of culture, either ...
, such as
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
. The term "man of letters" derives from the French term ''
belletrist () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...
'' or ''homme de lettres'' but is not synonymous with "an academic". 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 The Republic of Letters (''Res Publica Litterarum'' or ''Res Publica Literaria'') was the long-distance intellectual community in the late 17th and 18th centuries in Europe and the Americas. It fostered communication among the intellectuals of th ...
, which evolved into the
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
aimed at edification, education, and cultural refinement. In the United States, a
professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...
exists for independent scholars: this association is the
National Coalition of Independent Scholars The National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS) is the principal professional association for independent scholars. Though incorporated in the USA, NCIS has an international membership, and is a non-profit organization that supports independ ...
. In Canada, the equivalent professional association is the
Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars The Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars is a former association of independent scholars in Canada. One of the largest organizations for independent scholars in the world, it is Patronage, patroned by John Ralston Saul. The academy was founded ...
(in association with
Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...
). Similar organizations exist around the world. Membership in a professional association generally entails a degree of post-secondary education and established research. 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 The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
calls earning an income the biggest challenge of being an independent scholar. Due to challenges of making a living as a scholar without an academic position, " ny independent scholars depend on having a gainfully employed partner". To get access to libraries and other research facilities, independent scholars have to seek permission from universities. 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". 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".


See also

* :Scholars – The category of scholars, people who study a field *
Scholarism Scholarism was a Hong Kong pro-democracy camp, pro-democracyWilfred Chan and Yuli Yang, CNN]Echoing Tiananmen, 17-year-old Hong Kong student prepares for democracy battle 28 September 2014 student activist group active in the fields of Hong ...
(學民思潮) Hong Kong political movement *
Scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...
*
Scholasticism Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and Ca ...
*
Autodidacticism Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...
*
Citizen science The term citizen science (synonymous to terms like community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is research conducted with participation from the general public, or am ...


References


External links

* of the
National Coalition of Independent Scholars The National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS) is the principal professional association for independent scholars. Though incorporated in the USA, NCIS has an international membership, and is a non-profit organization that supports independ ...
{{Authority control Academic terminology Knowledge Intelligence Wisdom Academia Thought