A Different Kind of Scholarship
Providing scholars with the intellectual and cultural foundations that make good research and scholarship possible.
Before universities, learned societies established and maintained spaces that supported the scholarship of their members
Scholar Square returns to that tradition
We draw inspiration from the early learned societies of the 17th and 18th centuries whose members met in parlours, coffeehouses, and communal places.
These societies served as custodians and facilitators of scholarship.
They recognised that scholarship is not a solitary activity but an act rooted in community.
Modern Academia Has Lost Sight Of What It Means To Support Scholars
By prioritising speed, competition, and metrics, academia is increasingly eroding the scholar’s relationship with knowledge, research, and learning.
Beyond academia, a culture of distraction has made it harder than ever to think critically and live intellectually.
Scholar Square provides a different kind of academic environment for scholars to thrive in.
Scholar - root word, Latin origin ‘schole’ - restful learning, as opposed to ‘aschole’ which means ‘busy-ness’ or ‘business’
By practicing scholarship as a community, not a corporation, we make it possible for scholars to meaningfully engage in learning and research.
We welcome thinkers from all disciplines, backgrounds, and stages of life
Scholar Square is a para-academic space: not housed within an academic institution, but existing alongside and in conversation with it.
This is why we have chosen the term scholar
Whether you are a current PhD, Masters, or Undergraduate student, a full-time academic, an independent scholar, or a para-academic working alongside the university, you are welcome here.
With members in fields ranging from Physics and History to Mathematics and English literature, our scholars benefit from each other’s diversity of thought and experience.
Looking Ahead
Scholar Square is stewarded by The Scholar Initiative CIC, a UK-registered, non-profit Community Interest Company. By law, all membership fees are re-invested into the life and growth of the community.
Today, we are starting out as a membership-based scholarly community.
In the near future, we aim for Scholar Square to be a springboard for collective projects
alternative publishing and funding, and initiatives that bring the work of our members into the public sphere. We believe good scholarship can contribute to the wider social good, sustaining itself financially without exploitation.