Arthur&Strum

Pacic&Lutheran&University

Why$Teachers$Should$Be$Researchers$(but$no$experts)

Within&colleges&and&universi:es,&the&idea&that&students&benet&from&being&instructed&by&
professors&who&do&research&is&a&truism&&that&is,&something&apparently&selfAevident&which&
structures&our&prac:ces&and&our&discussions,&but&for&which&we&rarely&oer&any&argument&or&
evidence.&And&yet&for&professors&in&the&humani:es,&the&ques:on&of&the&value&of&research&for&
teaching&arises&again&and&again&outside&the&university,&because&&unlike&in&the&sciences&&the&
fruits&of&that&research&are&not&evident&in&dayAtoAday&existence.&In&the&humani:es,&the&claim&
heard&most&oHen&for&the&value&of&research&is&that&only&through&research&can&the&teacher&keep&
current&in&her&discipline;&without&remaining&upAtoAdate&in&this&manner,&the&teacher&cannot&
competently&deliver&the&disciplines&contents.&But&this&claim&involves&many&assump:ons&which&
would&need&to&be&explicitly&argued:&that&the&professionalized&and&specialized&form&of&research&in&
the&humani:es&today&is&relevant&to&the&needs&of&our&students,&many&of&whom&are&taking&courses&
in&the&humani:es&for&the&purposes&of&general&educa:on&(that&is,&ci:zenship&and&life),&and&a&great&
majority&of&whom&will&not&go&on&to&graduate&work;&that&teaching&is&rightly&described&as&the&
transmission&of&content&and&so&on.&Furthermore,&there&is&at&least&a&serious&ques:on&about&
whether,&as&one&cri:c&puts&it,&any&empirical&evidence&exists&whatsoever&to&support&the&view&
that&academic&research&and&publica:on&have&a&benecial&eect&upon&instruc:on.&Considering&
claims&like&these,&it&is&not&surprising&that&the&humani:es&are&con:nually&threatened&by&proposals&
to&streamline&the&educa:onal&paths&of&students&by&avoiding&the&humani:es&altogether&&by&

reducing&the&burdens&of&general&educa:on,&or&by&encouraging&students&to&sa:sfy&these&
requirements&at&junior&colleges&(where&instruc:on&is&less&costly,&partly&because&it&is&delivered&by&
scholars&required&to&do&research).&
The&ques:on&we&have&been&asked&to&answer&in&this&issue&of&Prism&reects&this&situa:on.&As&
professors&in&the&humani:es,&we&have&been&asked&to&give&realAworld&examples&of&how&our&
research&might&benet&students&in&the&classroom&&the&choice&of&the&term&real&world,&implicitly&
counterposed&to&the&ideal,&reects&a&perhaps&understandable&impa:ence&with&the&kinds&of&
idealis:c&pla:tudes&about&the&value&of&liberal&educa:on&which&we&are&accustomed&to&hearing&at&
gradua:ons&or&in&opAed&pieces.&The&problem&with&these&pla:tudes&is&not&that&they&might&not&
contain&truth,&but&that&as&pla:tudes,&the&truth&they&point&to&is&no&longer&visible&in&them.&The&
problem,&on&the&other&hand,&with&restric:ng&oneself&to&only&realAworld&jus:ca:ons&of&the&
connec:on&between&research&and&teaching&in&the&humani:es&is&that&this&is&usually&taken&to&
mean:&how&do&the&humani:es&help&our&students&get&jobs?&As&important&as&that&is,&the&real&
world&is&more&encompassing&than&that,&for&it&includes&not&only&what&exists,&but&also&the&
mo:va:ons&and&desire&to&shape&or&change&what&exists&&including&what&kinds&of&jobs&exist.&In&
this&brief&contribu:on,&I&want&to&excavate&a&principled&jus:ca:on&for&the&pedagogical&value&of&
research&which&can&be&found&in&one&of&the&founda:onal&documents&of&the&modern&university&&
one&which&both&jus:es&the&importance&of&college&teachers&doing&research,&and&challenges&
professors&to&reect&upon&how&they&conduct&that&research&and&teaching.
In&1810,&the&Prussian&state&ocial&Wilhelm&von&Humboldt&draHed&a&proposal&for&a&new&kind&of&
university&in&which&research&would&be&conducted&without&state&interference,&under&condi:ons&
of&freedom,&and&which&would&exhibit&a&unity&of&research&and&teaching.&In&the&course&of&the&last&
two&centuries,&von&Humboldts&ideal&shaped&the&development&of&the&modern&research&unity&

across&the&world,&including&in&the&United&States,&and&has&now&transformed&even&the&great&
majority&of&North&American&liberal&arts&colleges&in&its&image.&If&the&requirement&that&teachers&do&
research&adversely&aects&teaching,&or&just&makes&it&too&expensive,&then&it&would&seem&that&we&
have&von&Humboldt&to&blame.
But&if&one&returns&to&what&von&Humboldt&actually&wrote,&it&is&striking&how&dierent&his&
descrip:on&of&the&unity&of&research&and&teaching&is&from&most&jus:ca:ons&of&it&we&hear&
today.&Today,&when&we&talk&about&the&link&between&research&and&teaching,&it&is&as&if&we&imagine&
two&discrete&sites,&linked&only&by&a&kind&of&bridge&(instruc:on).&Von&Humboldt,&by&contrast,&
writes&that&the&material&of&instruc:on,&WissenschaH&(science,&or&disciplinary&knowledge&of&any&
kind),&should&always&be&treated&not&as&nished&and&closed&knowledge,&but&rather&as&an&
unresolved&problem&always&under&inves:ga:on.&Furthermore,&von&Humboldt&describes&
rela:ons&between&professors&and&students&not&in&terms&of&transmiang&ideas,&but&s:mula:ng&
their&produc:on:&die&Th:gkeit&des&Einen&begeistere&den&Anderen&(the&mental&ac:vity&of&the&
one&should&excite&that&same&ac:vity&in&the&other).&Here,&the&intellectual&sensibility&of&the&
learned&Prussian&professor&sounds&very&much&like&the&anarchic&one&of&the&great&modernist&
novelist&and&essayist&Virginia&Woolf,&wri:ng&100&years&later&in&her&pamphlet&A&Room&of&Ones&
Own,&that&the&uferance&of&the&lecturer&or&cri:c&(whether&about&literature&or&history&or&anything&
else)&is&not&there&so&that&the&student&can&wrap&up&a&nugget&of&pure&truth...&between&the&pages&
of&[her]&notebooks&and&keep&on&the&mantelApiece&for&ever.&Rather,&it&is&there&to&explode&in&the&
mind&of&the&recipient,&and&give&birth&to&all&kinds&of&other&ideas.&In&von&Humboldts&model&of&
researchAteaching,&knowledge&(and&this&descrip:on&is&par:cularly&suited&to&humanis:c&
knowledge)&is&not&made&in&one&place&and&transported&to&another,&but&takes&shape&on&the&spot:&
the&unity&of&research&and&teaching&is&dynamic,&rather&than&sta:c.&Partly,&von&Humboldts&model&

reects&the&Enlightenment&idea&that&various&sciences&would&perfect&themselves&through&a&public&
process&involving&the&tes:ng&of&claims,&and&their&subsequent&revision.&But&in&von&Humboldts&
proposal,&there&is&also&a&poli:cal&undercurrent:&the&same&student&who&has&cul:vated&his&
intellectual&courage&and&selfAreliance&via&the&process&of&teachingAresearch&going&on&in&the&
seminar&room&is&also&likely&to&begin&to&challenge&his&poli:cal&guardians&outside&the&classroom.&
As&much&as&launching&the&modern&disciplines,&the&Humbold:an&university,&part&of&the&shortA
lived&Prussian&reform,&was&also&intended&to&transform&a&Prussian&poli:cal&culture&marked&by&
hairspliang&dis:nc:ons&of&rank,&militarism,&and&absolute&obedience&to&authority.
When&in&the&later&19th&century,&the&German&idea&of&the&researcherAscholar&was&imported&into&
the&sefleristAfron:er&democracy&of&North&America,&it&necessarily&took&on&a&dierent&poli:cal&
valence:&here,&the&student&would&be&at&least&somewhat&more&likely&than&in&earlyA19th&century&
Prussia&to&exhibit&an&EmersonianAWhitmanesque&disregard&for&the&authori:es&(including&
intellectual&ones).&But&even&the&republican&virtues&are&some:mes&also&vices:&as&Edmund&Burke&
pointed&out,&in&regimes&where&popular&authority&is&absolute&and&unrestrained,&the&publics&
approba:on&of&its&own&acts&[takes&on]&&the&appearance&of&a&public&judgment&in&their&favor.&
Even&in&a&country&where&the&cons:tu:on,&and&judicial&review,&is&also&part&of&the&civil&religion,&the&
publics&arma:on&of&its&own&virtue&has&always&cons:tuted&a&threat&to&minority&voices&
challenging&its&pie:es.&In&Prussia,&the&freedoms&of&the&seminar&room&might&have&cul:vated&
resistance&to&the&authority&of&the&state;&however,&here&in&North&America,&that&same&experience&
might&have&awakened&resistance&to&the&most&oppressive&features&of&republican&life:&a&tendency&
towards&intolerance&towards&minority&voices&and&ideas,&or&the&tendency&to&intellectual&
uniformity&noted&by&foreign&commentators&like&de&Tocqueville.&

That&is:&in&both&early&nineteenthAcentury&Prussia&and&in&North&America&of&the&19th&century&and&
today,&the&university&is&supposed&to&func:on&not&simply&to&facilitate&real&world&interests&of&
economy,&polity,&and&culture,&but&to&disrupt&their&smooth&func:oning&&to&encourage&students&to&
get&oAboard,&rather&than&onAboard.&Perhaps&these&contribu:ons&to&Prism&themselves&reect&
this&ins:tu:onal&peculiarity.&If&our&contribu:ons&were&wrifen&only&for&the&purposes&of&corporate&
or&ins:tu:onal&publicity,&a&supervisor&would&need&to&check&the&messaging.&But&when&
professors&are&asked&to&write&for&a&house&organ,&this&is&what&one&gets:&a&series&of&responses&
which&hopefully&reect&the&eects&of&research&as&a&calling&&not&standardized,&but&individual&
voices;&not&consonance&among&these&voices,&but&the&dissonance&which&the&broader&society&
some:mes&thinks&it&mistrusts,&but&actually&requires&in&order&that&it&immunize&itself&against&the&
very&real&social,&moral,&and&poli:cal&dangers&of&endlessly&reAcirculated&pla:tudes.&But&whether&
academic&research&in&the&humani:es&in&fact&brings&out&this&quality&of&idiosyncrasy&and&
independence&in&the&scholar,&and&whether&each&of&us&successfully&cul:vates&them&in&his&or&her&
students,&is&something&which&perhaps&only&our&students&themselves&can&best&answer.
&Arthur&Strum