Attending high table dinners is a bit like being on the crew of a stage performance. You are not an actor, but you get to see actors when they are being human – you see them in their ‘green room’ state. Also, you begin to understand the kind of dynamics that underlie theatre as a presentation to the outside world. The illusions that the audience buys into automatically are made transparent to you. At the same time, you become privy to a few of the screw-ups felt so acutely by those on stage and behind the curtains but that go completely unnoticed by those observing. I even got to operate Wadham’s infamous espresso machine tonight; Starbucks missed out on a quick study, when they denied me a job last summer.
Whether you’re interested in levels of analysis, bureaucratic politics, or epistemic communities – IR students will know what I am talking about – the MCR/SCR divide is a fascinating case study.
PS. One member of the IR faculty has been especially kind to me, at the last few dinners. I should find some way to thank him.
