This Is What's Known As Enlightened Self-Interest...

Hi, again.
     As some of you may know I'm what's known as an independent researcher [=unemployed, =broke, =intellectually starved, =begger on foot wishing for a horse]. That's why my eye was caught last year when I read about the activities of one Dr. Jon F. Wilkins. He was reaching out to the media on behalf of his ingenious idea to establish independent scholarship as a viable and indeed valuable branch of the academy [albeit a never-watered and unfertilized twig until now]. After some arm-twisting and under-the-table inducements I was accepted as one of the inaugural class of research scholars affiliated with the Ronin Institute of Independent Scholarship. Among his other achievements, Dr. Wilkins has worked to obtain not-for-profit status for the nascent organization. That work recently paid off, and now Jon is launching a fund-raising endeavor. I must admire his commitment, and his vision for the likes of me.
     I'm keenly aware that I've stuck out my hat to you before now, so please don't consider the following to be a direct effort to milk you again, kind reader. Rather, as Jon points out in this statement, the aim is to reach small and large philanthropists so as to one day secure a lasting, indeed self-renewing means of support to promote the kind of meaningful research that non-academic scholars are more than capable of producing. Take note that the following is in the first person. So, don't forget what region of virtual reality you're perched, and that way you can't be confused by the self-references that don't fully jibe with the present context!
     Ladies and gennlemen... may I introduce Jon Wilkins.

Happy New Year,

I wanted to take just a moment to introduce you to my new venture, the Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship.

I founded the Ronin Institute in 2012 in order to create a new model for doing scholarly research outside of the traditional academic system. While the traditonal system has a number of strengths, it also comes with serious limitations. These limitations include artifical barriers to interdisciplinary research and collaboration arising from departmental boundaries, large bureaucratic and teaching loads placed on faculty, and the financial demands involved in supporting the infrastructure of the university.

The fact is, in many fields, the independent scholar with access to library resources can pursue research at the highest levels, often at a fraction of the cost of a university researcher. Furthermore, in the United States alone, there are tens of thousands of underemployed PhDs, representing a vast, untapped resource. We are identifying the most highly motivated independent scholars and working to ensure that they are able to make productive use of their expertise.

At the moment, there are about twenty five Ronin Institute Research Scholars, representing fields from Physics to Biology to History to Philosophy. A number of us are engaged in full-time research. Others are pursuing a model of "fractional scholarship," engaging part time in academic research while working at another career, fulfilling family obligations, etc. Our goal is to create new career paths and funding opportunities to support a diversity of ways of engaging in scholarship.

This fall, we recieved approval of our 501c3 nonprofit status from the IRS, meaning that we are now ready to move forward with raising funds to support individual projects, help send independent scholars to conferences, and providing small pilot grants to help to restart research programs for people who have taken time off (e.g., to have kids).

I am hoping that you might be able to help us out, if not now, then at some point in the future. This could mean a financial donation, of course, and if you're inclined to donate, you can do so online (https://www.wepay.com/donations/130216 ), or visit the Ronin Institute Donation page (http://ronininstitute.org/donate/ ). We are strongly dedicated to following donor intent. If you would like to discuss directing your donation towards a specific project or program, feel free to contact us at development@ronininstitute.org

Alternatively, maybe you know someone who is a highly motivated independent scholar, and you would like to point them in our direction. Or maybe you are looking for a collaborator on an upcoming project, in which case you might have a look through the list of our Research Scholars (http://ronininstitute.org/research-scholars/ ), some of whom are actively seeking out collaborations, and all of whom are open to collaborating on the right project.

To find out more about the Ronin Institute more generally, you can check us out on the web, on Facebook and on Google+:

http://ronininstitute.org

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ronin-Institute/305791116124209

https://plus.google.com/b/104760039078505343323/

If you're more of a listener, you can check out this radio interview that I did with WBUR in Boston over the summer (http://radioboston.wbur.org/2012/06/06/phd-job-market )

You can also contact me with any questions you might have at jon.f.wilkins@ronininstitute.org

Wishing all the best for you in 2013,

Jon Wilkins

     Okay. You can return your attention to me, now. I realize that phrases like "make productive use of [Gargett's] expertise" might not be the first thing that whistles through your head with regard to my oeuvre when you're reading this blog. However, Jon Wilkins knows that I harbour deep within me the desire to make a greater contribution to this mixed-up discipline that we collectively refer to as archaeology. As you'll discover in the months and years to come, I have something to offer every age and species, every sub-discipline and field of anthropology, every corner of the past world. It's all there, just waiting for an unsuspecting audience to stumble upon my ravings.
     I'm glad you're along for the ride, even if you can't afford me!

SA announces new posts on the Subversive Archaeologist's facebook page (mirrored on Rob Gargett's news feed), on Robert H. Gargett's Academia.edu page, Rob Gargett's twitter account, and his Google+ page. A few of you have already signed up to receive email when I post. Others have subscribed to the blog's RSS feeds. You can also become a 'member' of the blog through Google Friend Connect. Thank you for your continued patronage. You're the reason I do this.

Scholar Gypsies Take Heart: The Ronin Institute Might Be the Place For You

I feature John Hawks's weblog on the Subversive Archaeologist's blogroll. Usually I can look to it for more grist. But this morning I came across a recent entry that pointed me to an article in the Boston Globe, 'The Ronin Institute for wayward academics.' 
     I almost dropped my [authorized, logo imprinted] official SA regalia coffee mug. For there, in front of me, was, if not the answer to my dreams, at least a possibility of the road forward. The article discusses the fate of too many PhDs, not just the ones who're cold-shouldered by the establishment. New ones. Ones that have been teaching part time for years, if not forever. I know some of them. Hi, Jonathan. Hi, Kathy. Those who've never held an academic position but who wish they could do research, just the same.
     Dr. Jon Wilkinson, a theoretical evolutionary biologist in Montclair, NJ, has launched the Ronin Institute to foster a new paradigm of the academy. His hope is to provide an institutional affiliation for those of us without one, and a new academic niche, that of the 'fractional scholar.' This is the proverbial ray of hope for the likes of me, because without that coveted institutional affiliation there's little to no chance that research funds would ever come their way, much less the wherewithal to attend meetings and hang out with the grown-ups.
     Wilkinson needs support of all kinds for this endeavour, and is busily looking for patrons and funding. But the real engine of his enterprise, it seems to me, will be the calibre of the scholars chosen and their ability to prove that the old structure could do with a re-jig--that it's not just tenured university professors who have the requisite expertise and time to do research. Those of us with full-time day jobs would, I'd bet give small bits of their anatomy for the chance to work evenings and weekends on something they love, rather than watching American Idol or weeding the garden [or drinking inexpensive California chardonnay while sitting around complaining about the work everybody else is doing]. So, I say 'Pave the garden over and throw the TV away!'  'Let's raise Jon Wilkinson on our shoulders, and run around in circles in a pre-emptive victory lap!'
     Where do I sign up? Here's where: ronininstitute.org
     And, yes, the institute's name is taken from Japanese history.

The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. It then came to be used for a samurai who had lost his master. (Hence, the term "wave man" illustrating one who is socially adrift.) -Wikipedia [of course!]

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