The Community for Independent Scholars
Read deeply, write honestly, and publish your life's work.
The free guide
The Indie Scholar Blueprint
A short, practical guide to making a real living reading, writing, and thinking outside the academy. Distilled from six years of full-time independent work. Read it in an evening; act on one thing the next morning.
- How independent scholars actually earn
- What to write and how readers find you without an institution
- The rhythm of work a serious intellectual life requires
- The lineage you're joining: Spinoza, Johnson, Emerson, Nietzsche
The daily newsletter
The Indie Scholars Review
A daily review of the most interesting ideas, writings, and developments in the new arts and letters. Read it with your morning coffee.
Where the work happens
Inside the Indie Scholars community
A private community of working independent scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Free to enter; paid tiers go deeper.
Free Community
For readers and fellow travelers
- Meet and chat with other indie scholars
- Occasional events and seminars
- Private community newsletter
Membership
For serious readers and casual writers building a life of the mind
- Writing sessions every weekday morning
- Monthly print letter sent to your house
- Monthly readings & seminars
- Content library
1-Year Program
For advanced independent study
- Everything in Membership, plus:
- Private 1-on-1 project supervision over 1 year in the style of an MA/PhD
- 1-on-1 video calls through the year
- Weekly group Q&A sessions
The one-year program
A 1-year program for advanced independent study
Next cohort starts July 29, 2025.
Write and publish the best work of your life.
Build a platform, design a research agenda, connect with peers, and build an original body of work with feedback and support from a professional.
Curriculum at a glance
- The new playbook for reading, writing, and teaching as a vocation
- How to identify and frame your best and biggest idea
- How to position your work for a public audience
- How to publish consistently and effectively
- How to plan, write, publish, and sell a book
- How to design, teach, and sell courses
- How to build consulting and business services around your writing
- The complete model for a full-time, 6-figure independent scholar income
Full 12-point curriculum on the program page.
Content
A self-paced video curriculum plus weekly group Q&A and three private 1-on-1 calls — orientation, mid-year review, final review.
Community
A private space inside the larger Indie Scholars community for sharing work, exchanging feedback, and organizing your own extra-curricular events.
Your work
A private audience of thoughtful readers and interlocutors from day one. Posts in "Share Your Work" frequently draw dozens of careful replies.
Full details, schedule, and tuition on the program page.
Hear what members are saying
Emmet Penney
Independent scholar and Senior Fellow at the FAI; runs Nuclear Barbarians
"I don't think I'd have been willing to stake out my own turf and create my own content online if it wasn't for Justin Murphy and Indie Scholars."
Geoff Shullenberger, PhD
Independent scholar and Managing Editor at Compact Magazine
"Immensely beneficial to me intellectually and personally. The library resources were essential for building my blog and podcast platforms, and the work sessions and conferences have helped me stay focused and productive."
Nina Power, PhD
Independent scholar, author, and teacher
"Indie Scholars is the future: everything here is driven by genuine enthusiasm. Unlike contemporary academia, learning and communicating with others at Indie Scholars encourages flourishing for all concerned."
Justin Murphy, PhD
Founder, host, and primary instructor of Indie Scholars since 2019
Justin Murphy was a professor for 5 years before going independent on the internet in 2019. He received his PhD in 2014.
His research has appeared in popular and peer-reviewed journals ranging from Foreign Affairs, First Things, International Studies Quarterly, IEEE Intelligent Systems, and many others.
Murphy now conducts his research and teaching on the internet full-time. He writes books and runs Other Life — a newsletter and podcast — on topics across the humanities and social sciences.
Murphy started the first version of Indie Scholars in 2019 because people started asking him for advice.
- · Full-time independent scholar
- · Former professor
- · Supervised PhD and MA students to completion
- · Wrote the book on indie scholars, The Independent Scholar (2026)