Publication – English
It’s Not Just Academic – Writing Public Scholarship in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
MESA Review of Middle East Studies, 2011
Abstract:
This article by Carl W. Ernst appears in a Special Section of the MESA Review of Middle East Studies edited by Shafique N. Virani entitled “Speaking Truth Beyond the Tower: Academics of Islam Engaging in the Public Sphere.” An accomplished writer (in both the academic and literary senses of that word), Ernst argues that we must learn to communicate in clear and meaningful ways, as the gap between academia and the general public is often the function of the arcane language and style that dominate our profession. While members of the public are thirsty for knowledge in our areas of specialization, they are scared away by the esoteric forms, conventions and highly technical vocabulary found in what Ernst refers to tongue-in-cheek as The Journal of Obscure Studies. Unable to access reliable information hidden under lock and key in the Ivory Tower, interested non-specialists are left to sink or swim in the uncharted waters of often questionable standard media sources of information. Ernst traces the obscure and deadening writing style that dominates academia to the “dissertation-ese” painfully cultivated by doctoral students seeking to satisfy the tiny cabal of professors on their evaluation committees. He proposes an alternative model, dubbed “stealth analysis,” which he elaborates in detail in his article.
Cite this publication:
Ernst, Carl W. “Itʼs Not Just Academic – Writing Public Scholarship in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.”Special Section, “Speaking Truth Beyond the Tower: Academics of Islam Engaging in the Public Sphere.”Edited by Shafique N. Virani. In MESA Review of Middle East Studies 45, no. 2 (2011): 164-171.
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