What is the Academic College?

Are you an academic who lives in one city and works in another?

There’s actually a ton of us scattered around the country crisscrossing on trains just to get into the office.

What if after this wretched pandemic was over we all work together in both places?

Why don’t we gather based on where we live rather than where we work?

In the past six months, we’ve drawn on the latest social science and arts research to set up a novel civic structure, an interactive web platform and a community interest company we’re calling The Academic College.

Let’s organize services like co-working spaces, room exchanges and child care for ourselves and our local communities. Let’s keep the flexibility of working from home whilst improving our working conditions and mitigating isolation and commuter strain.

We could collaborate more with academics at nearby universities and join with our neighbours to forge positive sustainable and fair visions for the future in new and dynamic ways.

Our aim is to link digital and real-life engagement locally and globally including through new academic fairs.

No more dull, business-like meetings in conference centers.

We are bringing back the spirit, fun and genuine learning from the days of lyceum tours, university extension movements, chautauqua festivals and world expos!

Imagine: all of us nomadic academics schlepping to work every week then flying to far-flung conferences every year.

Surely we can organize something better something more sensible. More sustainable. More collaborative. More fun!

More academic.