Beyond the Academy: A Scholar's Obligations. ACLS Occasional Paper, No. 31.

Four papers address how individual scholars may see their obligations to the wider public. In the first paper, "The Social Responsibility of the Academy and Its Academicians," George R. Garrison considers the role, purpose, and mission of Liberal Arts Institutions of Higher Education and examines the civic and social responsibilities of researchers and teachers in the Academy. The second paper, "Reflections on the History Wars," by Arnita A. Jones, first identifies four developments creating a favorable climate for public presentation of history including the increasing numbers of historians in public history jobs, a growing public appetite for history, the modern history education reform movement, and recent historical scholarship. She then considers implications of the rejection of the recently formulated National Standards in History. The third paper, "The Dangers of Willful Ignorance," by Robert Pollack examines the two-edged role of science and urges the teaching of science as an integrated part of the culture and a commitment by higher education to study the political implications of science, and greater involvement in and debate about the major ideas of science. The final paper, "On Defiance and Taking Positions" by Edward W. Said stresses that, although the first commitment of scholars must be to their field and students, as intellectuals in the wider society they should oppose consensus and othrodoxy, remind the wider society of context and larger processes, maintain their independence of thought, and involve themselves with an ongoing process or issue. (DB)