Draft:Outsider Scholarship

Outsider Scholarship is a term which refers to research, experimentation, theory, jurisprudence, and other scholarship conducted by those outside of the dominant communities and institutions of scholarship (e.g. research institutions or universities). The term may also be used to denote scholarship from groups who have traditionally been excluded from institutions of research, women and ethnic minorities. For example, Critical race theory was once considered a kind of outsider scholarship within jurisprudence. For empirics and experimentation, Citizen science may be considered a kind of outsider scholarship. Prior to the current pattern of intellectual dominance of research institutions, Independent scientists, a related phenomenon, made significant contributions and scientific advancements.

Etymology

The term "Outsider Scholarship" was taken by extension from Outsider art, art produced by self-taught artists or those outside of the traditional art world. The term was coined by Roger Cardinal in the early 1970s as an English equivalent for Art brut.

Examples

• Srinivasa Ramanujan is an example of an important outsider scholar in both the sense that much of his original work was conducted before contact with contemporary mathematical institutions and because his personal and academic background were unusual for advanced mathematicians at the time.
• Robert M. Pirsig has been considered by some to be an outsider scholar, though at times in his life he was closely connected to research institutions. His work Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance does not take the form of a contemporary philosophical text, but is the best-selling Philosophy book of all time.
• George Green (mathematician) published his first significant work, An Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and Magnetism, approximately four years before attending university. At the time, he had only one year of formal schooling from childhood and had developed his mathematical skills via a local library.
• In 2010, Blackawton Primary School students published an article on Honey bee Cognition. The article faced difficulty in the peer review process because the paper contained no Citations, an example of how outsider scholarship may not match the trends or expectations of established scholarship.
• Colin Firth was included as a co-author in a research paper on the physiology of brains of conservatives and liberals in the UK, first with politicians from the Conservative Party (UK) and Labour Party (UK) and then later with undergraduate students. His contribution came as part of an interview wherein he suggested the research protocol, and the remainder of the coauthors conducted the research with funding from him.
• Emily Rosa conducted a science fair project testing the theory of Therapeutic touch with guidance from her mother. Later, her science fair project was expanded to a full study of TT. As a result, the Guinness World Records organization credited her as the youngest scientist to publish in a major research journal.