Quote of the Week - Is there not ... a danger that academics may lose their independence if they get too closely involved either with corporate interests or with environmental activism?

Is there not, however, a danger that academics may lose their independence if they get too closely involved either with corporate interests or with environmental activism?

Holm* says that independence must be maintained if academics are do their work properly:  “I am a staunch believer in the university as a space to stand aside, to dig deeper:  we actually do need ivory towers to do this.  But I’m also committed to being a passenger on the same bus as every other citizen.  If I learn that that bus is driving us towards an abyss, I need to do something about it.”

*Poul Holm, Environmental Humanities Centre, Trinity College Dublin’s Long Room Hub

The art of changing the climate debate by Paddy Woodworth, Irish Times, June 11, 2016 

Read original at 2016 SkS Weekly Digest #24