Good scholarship doesn’t limit sources to only those with which we agree: it demands academic maturity, examining sources from even our ideological opponents to arrive at truth. It refuses to abandon deeply held convictions, while also expecting and allowing for different interpretations.
Good scholarship is investigative, fair, and truth-seeking, even when an opposing view is not. It’s discerning in the inevitable gray areas, acknowledging that some things we will just never know.
It is the enemy of propaganda.
Good scholarship refuses to cower to popular opinion. It’s not afraid of the media, celebrities, or the commentary of the crowd: it doesn’t withdraw in the face opposition. It doesn’t glory in sensationalism, and its singular goal is truth.
Good scholarship is hard.
But we can, and should, do hard things.
The Homeschool Historian 