Walter Benjamin, with his usual brilliance, observed, "Scholarship, far from leading inexorably to a profession, may in fact preclude it. For it does not permit you to abandon it." The first part suggests that a scholar never ceases learning and, as a result, does not settle into a single profession. The second part indicates the difference between a student (who does lead to a profession) and a scholar (for whom learning is a lifetime, evolving, and intrinsic behaviour). Well, after over a month of international travel and then followed by a few excellent celebratory gatherings, it is well about time that I return to the matter of scholarship. In these parts of my life, there are three current vectors.
The first is my doctoral studies at the University of Euclid. This week I have have completed the first part of a course on
"Global Energy and Climate Policy", which is shared between the University of London and with the major project with Euclid University. The content was quite good, looking at the necessity of moving away from GHG energy sources, alternative energy sources (including nuclear), the Paris Agreement itself, and energy security and sovereignty. For the major paper, I'll be looking at "Optimal Energy Choices for Pacific Island Nations Under the Paris Agreement". I am especially interested in looking at the expected climate changes, the likely demographic changes, technology options, and the application of NDCs of other countries.
In addition, in a completely different vector, I have taken up studies for a Cert IV in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Now, this may seem a bit strange for someone who already has a Master's degree in Higher Education, but in my profession, my teaching is normally more than 50% of students from non-English-speaking backgrounds. It is extremely helpful for me to modify my presentation so it is more easily understood, even when the technical content is quite advanced. The course itself, through the
Sydney Higher Education Institute, is thankfully very attentive to not just language learning, but also cultural differences. Whilst the course is designed to be taken over a year, because it's self-paced I'm hoping to get it done in a few months.
The third part is quite out of leftfield. About fifteen years ago, I ran a lengthy
RuneQuest Prax campaign. As I often do, I kept extensive notes and even constructed a series of letters from one of the characters, Praxilites, as he developed from a young initiate of the sun god to reaching apotheosis. How is such fantasy storytelling scholarly? Well, apart from delving deeply into what can only be described as the deeply mythological metaphysics of Glorantha, our main character's story is very much in the style of Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations", a subject that I have written about
in the past. Of course, it will not be just Marcus whom I'll be drawing from, but also Diogenes, Zeno, Seneca, Epictetus and even a dash of Laozi. Anyway, with more than 35000 words already written, it is proving to be quite a joy to delve down a path of scholarship that is also entertaining.
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