In praise of “unreasonably passionate” academics

“What is a career in higher education if not a stubborn failure to let go of our obsessive intellectual interests?” writes Joshua Kim in a defense of wanting to work with “unreasonably passionate colleagues.” Kim praises the academic’s tendency to pursue their career “not out of any rational career calculus,” but out of internal motivation and curiosity. As a professor in the world of educational technology, Kim further points to this drive as the source of positive change in higher education, as these professors are “unreasonably determined to leverage technology to increase postsecondary access, lower costs, and raise quality.” Inside Higher Ed