From Scholar-Activism to Scholar-Optimism
In this piece, I offer scholar-optimism as a way to think about faculty work that avoids the trappings of the label scholar-activism. Scholars who frame themselves as scholar-activists can easily lose their students' trust.
Scholar-activism wrongly presumes individual scholars choose a virtuous career path by becoming principled partisans or staunch superheroes. Instead, the commitment to methods that protect inquiry and promote truth help society make tangible improvements. Scholarship can improve the world—but it does so on a pace and in unpredictable ways that cannot be reduced to individuals’ contributions.
When scholars are not seen as producing credible information free from political interference, we all lose the ability to challenge power, irrationality, bigotry, groupthink, quackery, and superstition. We also lose the ability to resist extramural forces that would have scholars bend academic research agendas, conclusions, instruction, or professional service to suit political interests.