

Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Academics: Reconsidering the Ethics of Training Apprentice Scholars
Join us on February 28th for an insightful talk by Dr. Andrew Connolly.
WRDS 150 trains apprentice scholars. Students, as novice, apprentice scholars, work on authentic, academic research projects “while learning fundamental concepts and practices from active and experienced scholars” (“WRDS 150A”).The implied promise of this approach is that, as students learn these concepts and practices, they will be able to move from the periphery toward the centre of a research community. One of the largest flaws in this approach is that it does not adequately account for the numerous “apprentices” who never make it to the centre. The majority of students who choose to pursue an academic career find themselves in contingent positions that do not allow them to fully participate in research communities.
In this lecture, Dr. Connolly takes a closer look at the experiences of people in these precarious academic positions and argues that we should reconsider the ethics of training apprentice scholars because of the false promises imbedded in that pedagogical approach.
This hybrid event welcomes both in-person [in Buchanan Tower #241] and online participants.
Register here to attend via Zoom.