The Hidden History of Professional Services in HE

Presenter: Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar

Institution: Nottingham Trent University

Format: Plenary

You heard it on the Wonkhe podcast, now watch it live! Mike Ratcliffe’s Hidden History of HE - with a twist.

There are many curiosities in the history of Higher Education in the UK, but one of the truly ‘hidden’ parts is the development of professional services in our providers. We will look back to when the ancient universities conferred the status of ‘privileged person’ on people who weren’t scholars but who worked for them (bookbinders, parchmenters, limners etc) and to various stages of visibility and invisibility through history. For a group of people who might have been termed ‘servants’ at times, we will track what it has meant to become ‘professional’ and a ‘service’. There will be gratuitous praise for the contribution of sector bodies that are forums for professional staff.

Listen to the Hidden History of HE boxsets Part 1 and Part 2.

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