The Need for Pracademics

I once had someone refer to me, a bit condescendingly, as a “scholar” instead of an “academic.” They acknowledged my earned Ph.D., with academic work at such institutions as Vanderbilt in the U.S. and Oxford in the U.K., along with many years of serving as an adjunct and visiting professor at various institutions yet felt the need to point out that I had not devoted my life to the academy. I had just been appointed president of a leading evangelical seminary, and it seemed important to them to make sure I realized that I was not the same as they were.

I wasn’t particularly bothered by it. Not because I was overly confident in my intellect, or breadth and depth of reading, or academic accomplishments. It didn’t bother me because I actually preferred being a scholar than an academic. Nothing against academics, but I had gladly chosen a life of the mind and a vocational life as a pastor. 

It struck me as odd then – and still does to this day – that someone with one foot in the world of academia and one foot in the world of vocational ministry would be an odd choice for president of a seminary. In truth, it kind of sounded like what seminaries – which are supposed to be preparing people for a life in vocational ministry – need. Even more ironic is that many of the tomes studied by those academics were written by pastors, with names such as Calvin and Edwards, Luther and Stott, Bonhoeffer and Wesley.

Or, as recently coined, “pracademics” (short for “practical academics”). These are professors who work outside the academy—and they are winning new respect. Led by such institutions as Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K., whose goal is to be the world’s leading “applied university,” the idea is to have students learn from those who work or have worked in the fields about which they teach.

This renaissance in practical academics is needed as historically, the heart of learning has always been rooted in some form of mentoring or apprenticeship. Someone who has a skill or practical knowledge passing it on to someone who desires it. It’s why we still have phrases where people boast, “I’m not a theoretician, but rather a practitioner,” or “This isn’t just academics to me.”

In a day when students are turning their backs on college degrees or finding that it simply isn’t worth the price in relation to their career, the solution may be as simple as having educators who teach not simply what they know, but what they have done.

And for the academy to learn to say “scholar” with less of a smirk of superiority, and more of a welcoming smile of appreciation.

James Emery White

Sources

Jon Marcus, “‘Pracademics,’ Professors Who Work Outside the Academy, Win New Respect,” The Washington Post, July 21, 2023, read online.

About the Author

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.