Collaborating With Passion: Remind Me Why It Was Invited?

Abstract

In this short essay I explore the complicated relationship between academic research and “passion” from the perspective of a confused PhD student. Passion appears to be held in high esteem across disciplines as a conduit for success (not to mention non-academic workplaces), bears at least partial responsibility for what areas of research are pursued and which are not, and is regularly given credit for major career and life choices. On the other hand, I like to think of it as a powerful but potentially toxic collaborator: It is capable of doing remarkable work and offers excellent company but if left unchecked turns into an attention-seeking git who schemes to inconspicuously take over projects with little regard for the consequences. I reflect on some of the different guises of passion to showcase its power as facilitator and antagonist of both research as a process and pursuit, and research as a career. I argue for the importance of interrogating one’s own passion and making deliberate rather than rhetoric choices about the ways in which it is allowed onto one’s (research) team.