Sphinx

I have had one of those Thoughts, which, in the absence of an effective brain-scrubber, can be dealt with only by forcing other people to share it: how about an academic version of Love in the Countryside? For those who haven’t encountered this yet, it’s a new BBC2 series – echoing if not actively ripping off a rather sweet German series that I’ve seen occasionally, Bauer sucht Frau, which according to Chris Dickenson on the Twitter (@cpdickenson) originated with a 1983 Swiss programme – in which an assortment of farming types post dating profiles and select a few of the respondents to spend some time with them out in the countryside, ‘cos it’s difficult to form or sustain a relationship when you spend your days slogging away in isolation at unsocial hours for very little money. Not a huge step away from the university…

Well, no, I don’t get a lot of practice in talking to other people in a social context. I talk to my students, of course, but it’s not what you’d call a real conversation. It’s not the sort of life that’s for everyone. I’m not necessarily looking for a research assistant, but I do need someone who’ll put up with the long hours and understand that those articles aren’t going to write themselves, and obviously they have to be okay with a bit of mess and dust and books everywhere. It’s a pretty quiet life, and I know some non-academics might think that I’m incredibly dull, so maybe it would help if they came from the same sort of background, but then Richard Dawkins married one of Doctor Who’s glamorous assistants so that’s the kind of thing I have in mind…

In subsequent episodes, the lucky respondents have to amuse themselves in Glasgow for two days in February with only £15 while the academic is in a conference, survive a departmental picnic, look after three homesick overseas students, and cope with the meltdown when a funding application is rejected. I’m sure my wife will be able to think of other amusing and dramatic scenarios…