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The Scholarly Letter

A weekly publication for the examined intellectual life.

Masthead:

San Choudhury and Reece Barlow

Featured Posts

Commentary

Jun 11, 2026

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6 min read

On Becoming 'Disgustingly Educated'

It’s no longer sexy to simply have your nails done or your hair styled. What’s sexy now is the performance of how much you know.

Essay

May 29, 2026

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12 min read

The On-lightenment

It is the experience of sensing that we know things in a light shaped by the structural conditions of our chronically online lives.

Fiction

Apr 23, 2026

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22 min read

The Man Who Killed The Library

"They said you have committed a crime against knowledge, just like when the Library of Alexandria was bur- ."

Essay

Apr 20, 2025

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13 min read

The Scholar Manifesto

We produce and discard knowledge like the way clothes get produced, consumed, and discarded in fast fashion.

Imposter Syndrome & Permissional Anxiety

I can recognize the limitations of my knowledge without deciding that those limitations disqualify me from pursuing knowledge in the first place.

Essay

Oct 8, 2026

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5 min read

The Productive Scholar

Therefore, take pleasure in the acts of production which develop you as a scholar and do them often. Enjoy the process of creating messy, incoherent, incomplete works - and words - about the topics which inspired you to pursue the life of the scholar in the first place

Essay

Oct 1, 2026

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7 min read

The Education of a Researcher

But when it came to the rules, methods, processes, and practices of doing academic research involved in actually doing academic research, and learning how to play the academic research game, I don’t think I gained these just by going through a PhD program.

Essay

Pursuing Scholarship as an Act of Rebellion

Sep 24, 2026

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5 min read

Pursuing Scholarship as an Act of Rebellion

Why is it acceptable to value research work when it comes to a job, but not acceptable to value research when it comes to education, for the sake of learning?

Essay

Scholarship in the Spirit of ‘Ich Probiere’

Sep 17, 2026

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6 min read

Scholarship in the Spirit of ‘Ich Probiere’

In the essay, he narrates a story of a seventeen-year-old student at the University of Strasbourg who, instead of following the prescribed anatomy curriculum involving dissection and microscopic examinations of tissues, was experimenting with dyes and microscopic specimens.

Open Notebook

Sep 11, 2026

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5 min read

On Scholarly Futures Worth Desiring

The conditions within which we work are maintained in such a way that prevents this kind of chaos. And while a spark sputters and flickers out of existence, the hearts wherein it was born are turned towards a more productive use of their desires: that work for and with the system instead of against it.

Essay

Sep 3, 2026

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4 min read

A Scholar's Credibility

Perhaps I should submit my recently finished proposal to a proper program? I believe it stands a chance of being considered.

Aug 27, 2026

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9 min read

Alt-Academia: Where Are the Men?

Refusing to participate in an alternative, and insisting that the alternative is illegitimate can both, potentially, express a greater investment in the world as it already exists.

Essay

Aug 20, 2026

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7 min read

A Scholar’s Good Life

Scholars are tasked not only with bringing about changes in what we think and do, but also in how we think and do.

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Featured Posts

On Becoming 'Disgustingly Educated'

The On-lightenment

The Man Who Killed The Library

The Scholar Manifesto

Archive

Imposter Syndrome & Permissional Anxiety

The Productive Scholar

The Education of a Researcher

Pursuing Scholarship as an Act of Rebellion

Scholarship in the Spirit of ‘Ich Probiere’

On Scholarly Futures Worth Desiring

A Scholar's Credibility

Alt-Academia: Where Are the Men?

A Scholar’s Good Life

The Scholarly Letter

Account

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