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{{Short description|Person who pursues academic and intellectual activities}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Gerbrand van den Eeckhout 003.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|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 staff|academic]], who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an [[Postgraduate education|advanced degree]] or a [[terminal degree]], such as a [[master's degree]] or a [[doctorate]]. Independent scholars and [[public intellectual]]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]] spoke of the role of the scholar in society:

{{blockquote|[A] scholar [is one] whose whole inward intellectual and moral being has been symmetrically unfolded, disciplined and strengthened under the influence of truth... No one faculty should be drawn out to the neglect of others. The whole inner man should be unfolded harmoniously.<ref name="Gerhart">Emanuel Vogel Gerhart, ''The Proper Vocation of a Scholar: An Address, Delivered at the Opening of the New Diagnothian Hall'' (July 2, 1847).</ref>}}

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:

{{blockquote|[T]o be a scholar involves more than mere learning... A genuine scholar possesses something more: he penetrates and understands the principle and laws of the particular department of human knowledge with which he professes acquaintance. He imbibes the life of Science... [and] his mind is transfused and moulded by its energy and spirit.<ref name="Gerhart"/>}}

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>

{{blockquote|The common themes are that a scholar is a person who has a high intellectual ability, is an independent thinker and an independent actor, has ideas that stand apart from others, is persistent in her quest for developing knowledge, is systematic, has unconditional integrity, has intellectual honesty, has some convictions, and stands alone to support these convictions.<ref name="Meleis"/>}}

Scholars may rely on the [[scholarly method]] or scholarship, a body of [[principle]]s and [[Practice (social theory)|practice]]s 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 [[:wikt:practice|practice]] of a given scholarly or academic field of study through [[Rigour|rigorous]] inquiry. Scholarship is creative, can be documented, can be replicated or elaborated, and can be and is [[peer-reviewed]] through various methods.<ref>[http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/defining-scholarship Aacn.nche.edu, Retrieved 15OCT2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715161405/http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/defining-scholarship |date=2017-07-15 }}.</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-official]]s'' ("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 [[calligraphy|calligraphers]], and knew [[Confucianism|Confucian]] philosophy. Historian [[Wing-Tsit Chan]] concludes that:

{{blockquote|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>{{cite book|editor=Charles Alexander Moore|title=The Chinese Mind: Essentials of Chinese Philosophy and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DoyN2h56ucC&pg=PA22|year=1967|publisher=U of Hawaii Press|page=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>{{cite book|author=The Korea Foundation|title=Koreana – Winter 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WkmOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT73|date=February 12, 2016|pages=73–74|publisher=한국국제교류재단 |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:

{{blockquote|The progress of science involves momentous interests. It merits the attention of all sincere lovers of truth. Every ...scholar is under obligations to contribute towards the ever-progressive unfolding of its riches and power. [They]...should combine their energies to bring to view what has eluded the keen vision of those men of noble intellectual stature who have lived and died before them.<ref name="Gerhart"/>}}

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 [[Professors in the United States#Research professor|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>{{Cite web |title=Classification of Ranks and Titles {{!}} Faculty Handbook |url=https://www.bu.edu/handbook/appointments-and-promotions/classification-of-ranks-and-titles/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=www.bu.edu |archive-date=2018-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709172613/https://www.bu.edu/handbook/appointments-and-promotions/classification-of-ranks-and-titles/ |url-status=live }}</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">{{cite web |url=https://history.ubc.ca/career-resources/independent-scholars/ |title=Independent Scholars |author= |website=history.ubc.ca |publisher=UBC |access-date=23 March 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323201732/https://history.ubc.ca/career-resources/independent-scholars/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The University of British Columbia's website states that to be 'recognized as a scholar', a Master's degree or PhD is 'generally expected' but exceptions exist depending on the individual's 'quality of scholarship'.<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 ''[[Belles-lettres|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 (gathering)|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>{{cite book|last1=Gross|first1=Ronald|title=The Independent Scholar's Handbook|date=1993|publisher=[[Ten Speed Press]]|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=0-89815-521-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Gross|first1=Ronald|title=Peak Learning: How to Create Your Own Lifelong Education Program for Personal Enlightenment and Professional Success|date=1991|publisher=J.P. Tarcher|location=New York City|isbn=0-87477-957-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/peaklearninghowt00gros_0}}</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>{{cite web |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/Stop-Calling-Me-Independent/241376 |title=Stop Calling Me Independent |last=Nelson |first=Megan |date=8 October 2017 |website=The Chronicle |publisher=Chronicle of Higher Education |access-date=23 March 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323204915/https://www.chronicle.com/article/Stop-Calling-Me-Independent/241376 |url-status=live }}</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>{{cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/08/29/difficulties-and-frustrations-attending-academic-conference-independent-scholar |title=The Plight of the Independent Scholar |last=Bodenheimer |first=Rebecca |date=29 August 2017 |website=insidehighered.com |publisher=Inside Higher Ed |access-date=23 March 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323204923/https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/08/29/difficulties-and-frustrations-attending-academic-conference-independent-scholar |url-status=live }}</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]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary}}
* {{official website|http://www.ncis.org/}} of the [[National Coalition of Independent Scholars]]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Academic terminology]]
[[Category:Scholars| ]]
[[Category:Knowledge]]
[[Category:Intelligence]]
[[Category:Wisdom]]
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Thought]]

Scholar - Revision history

Mazzulah Peel: made new stub.