“Radical professionalism” is an idea that goes above and beyond “professionalism” and that returns “professionalism” to its deep true conservative sense. This is the second of a series of posts. It started with a preamble, two weeks ago. This is the second of two posts looking at what professionalism is not, on false values that will be very familiar to readers of Medieval allegory and satire. It follows a first post on neutrality (false balance) yesterday. This second post is about appearances (seeming, or: false being and false value(s)) and their connection to appropriateness, propriety, and property. The third post looks at what professionalism is; and what, in the shape of a radical professionalism as modelled by radical academic professionals, it could be.
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This is the first of a series of posts. It started with a preamble, two weeks ago. “Radical professionalism” is an idea that goes above and beyond “professionalism” and that returns “professionalism” to its deep true conservative sense. I’ll start by looking at what professionalism is not, in two posts on false values that will be very familiar to readers of Medieval allegory and satire: neutrality (false balance) and appearances (seeming, or: false being). The third post looks at what professionalism is; and what, in the shape of a radical professionalism as modelled by radical academic professionals, it could be.
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Today is the anniversary of the death of Ken Campbell, anarchist polymath genius.
Reader of everything. Writer. Performer. Creator. Stand up comedian, speculative fictioneer, improviser, paranomasiac, marvelling revelling adventurer in existence.
Public outreach educator and life-long learning experimenter in ways beyond the wildest imaginings of Proper Professionals in these fields before they or these fields even existed. The next time you consider using words like “innovation,” “innovative,” “innovator”: have some respect. Think first. Check with reference to Ken. If philology provides a theoretical meaning, it is Ken who provides—incarnates—a reference-point for lived active practice.
As we academics start the new year, welcome new students, and train new graduate-student Teaching Assistants, please consider giving half an hour of your time to Ken; from whom one can learn more, and more deeply, in that time than in a year’s worth of Professionalisation Training Programmes by Proper Education Specialists.
I miss Ken.
I love this video and hope you do too. May watching Ken again become an annual ritual, a commemoration to bring in the academic new year.
(TW: Contains death and diddling, and Latin and love.)
A special bonus post in celebration of the Happy Academic New Year; all images (except one) are from the brilliant Scarfolk Council (scarfolk.blogspot.com), which you MUST visit forthwith if you have not already done so. (more…)
