reinvent academia | foster a new culture of scholarship
Our Mission
The Ronin Institute’s mission is to provide an academic community for people who are committed to truth and empathy.
Our Values
These values guide what we do and how we do it:
Truth
The main purpose of scholarship is to discover and communicate things that are true. We believe in the importance of pursuing our scholarship in good faith. That means being open to new ideas, and to the possibility that we might be wrong. We also recognize that “truth” looks different in each field, and we welcome a diversity of scholarly approaches.
Empathy
We are most importantly a community. We approach each other and those around us with kindness and care. We are committed to enabling an environment of peer-to-peer support. We are invested in each other’s successes, and understand that the creation of knowledge is not a zero sum game. We pursue our scholarship with the intention of benefiting while avoiding harm.
Our Goals
Diversify the pool of scholars
creating avenues for more diverse people to do scholarship
Transformative insights occur when scholars approach their subject from a new perspective, which is often derived from a scholar’s life experience. We seek to create new avenues for people with a broader set of experiences to contribute to scholarship by doing the work they feel most compelled to do.
creating avenues for more diverse people to do scholarship
Transformative insights occur when scholars approach their subject from a new perspective, and this is often derived from a scholar’s life experience. Unfortunately, the demands of the traditional academic career often constrain the set of life experiences that can be brought to bear. There are tens of thousands of people in the United States alone with advanced degrees, and many do not have the opportunity in their ‘day job’ to pursue knowledge creation. Even more significantly, some demographics are marginalized and prevented from fully participating in scholarship due to systemic structures in traditional academia and broader society. These demographics include women, people of color, people from non-english speaking cultures, minority cultures, and people who have been historically subjected to colonial oppression. How much knowledge and insight are we missing from society by not being more inclusive of diverse perspectives?
We seek to create new avenues for people with a broader set of experiences to contribute to scholarship by doing the work they feel most compelled to do.
creating a culture and a space that allows people and their scholarship to thrive
We are committed to creating a healthier and supportive environment where people and their scholarship can thrive, allowing people to pursue research in ways that work for them, as part of a more complete, well rounded life.
creating a culture and a space that allows people and their scholarship to thrive
The career of the traditional academic researcher has become increasingly time-consuming and all-encompassing. Academics work long hours and face demands that can be difficult to meet, and can be undesirable depending on their life goals or where they are in their life. Health, family, or life circumstances can make the academic lifestyle untenable. In the current structure of traditional academic institutions, taking a break from academia often means leaving scholarship forever. Not only that, but toxic culture is often a primary driver of why people, and particularly underrepresented people, leave academia and the workplace.
We are committed to creating a healthier and more supportive environment where people and their scholarship can thrive. We aim to create structures to support part-time scholars, allowing people to pursue research in ways that work for them, as part of a more complete, well rounded life.
helping scholars find each other, share experiences, and co-operate
Scholars need a community of people with whom they can share ideas and grow intellectually. We aim to help scholars establish new contacts and collaborations, self-organize in ways that support their work best.
helping scholars find each other, share experiences, and co-operate
One of the challenges to pursuing scholarship outside of the traditional academic context is working in isolation. New ideas and deep thinking rarely happens alone. Scholars need a community of people with whom they can share ideas and grow intellectually. Online tools are now available to help connect scholars, allowing them to find and share their experiences and collaborate together. Let’s work together to help support each other and transform what it means to be a scholar today.
We aim to help scholars establish new contacts and collaborations, self-organize in ways that support their work best, and become empowered as researchers, professionals, and creators of knowledge for the greater good of society.
This 2018 seminar from the sixth anniversary of the founding of the Institute provides an in-depth overview of our principles and values.
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