I am giving my inaugural lecture at Sheffield University Management School this evening.
Waiting a couple of years to do so is by no means unusual. I never got around to doing one at City, and some people never bother.
Such lectures are rarely groundbreaking. Nor are they deeply technical as they are given to an audience drawn from beyond your own speciality.
In my case I am highlighting the unusual nature of my appointment, how I became an academic a little bit by chance, and why universities should engage more people with real world experience in such roles if they want to increase the impact of their work in wider society, which is the primary reason for my being at Sheffield.
The lecture will be recorded, but I doubt it will be of much interest here. I will see how it goes.
Meanwhile, this will be taking up time today so moderation may not be consistently available. Apologies.
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I look forward to seeing you reflecting on this.
Why not share your journey and inspire others to do the same?
Looking forward to the link.
I no longer believe there is any opportunity for new thinking coming from within political parties, so that blogs like yours are essential.
I have recently re-read Paul Mason (postcapitalism) and Kate Raworth (Doughnut Economics). Sadly, a few years ago both looked forward to an internet that made new ideas more accessible. What instead we see is a steady increase in noise over signal, making thinking outside the echo chamber harder and harder to find. This story (47% of internet traffic from bots) confirms the trend. https://wonderfulengineering.com/47-of-internet-traffic-came-from-bots-in-2022-report-says/
Hayek believed that economy worked like an algorithm. If we do structure our social interactions also by algorithms, the chance of there only being 1 acceptable economic theory becomes ever more likely. It won’t be MMT or anything that challenges the orthodoxy of algorithms. That worries me.
Good luck with your lecture, Richard. I support your point that universities should be open to appointing those with non-academic backgrounds to broaden their impact.
Thanks Bill
Are you well?
Very best wishes for your inaugural. Where will it be held – in Firth Hall (which I believe still exists)?
Forty years after I moved to France, I retain fond memories of my 20 years at Sheffield doing my best to teach applied maths to (mostly) science and engineering students (is the Hicks building, built in the 60s, still standing?).
I’d be delighted if Sheffield could become a springboard for the practical advancement of your ideas. Well, one can always dream!
It is in the Management School
And thanks!
Having recently completed a physics PhD at the University of Sheffield, I’m happy to confirm that The Hicks Building is still standing.
Not my bit of the University
SUMS is a bit out on a limb
I wonder if this explains why my partner and I saw someone who looked *exactly* like you in the Crucible Theatre just before 1 pm? We were there for the lunchtime concert, which was wonderful. Regardless, I hope the inaugural lecture went well.
I nipped in to use their loo!