Abuse of Power and Position

I came across and read this article in the Guardian newspaper on Facebook, with the caption: 

'Digital tools can free staff from mundane and repetitive tasks, providing them with more time and the tools for better teaching, research and student support'

Really? 🤔 It should be the case that simple processes are only a click away from being smoothly done through technology but clearly isn't, when a very young professor doesn't mind wasting time on her KCL work emails organising some nonsensical KCL visitor pass for those who are not "members of King's" (whatever that means) apparently to "access the building" for a London Spinoza Circle event. 

For the past 8 years the London Spinoza Circle has existed, and I've been attending in-person throughout these academic years, whenever it was held at both Birkbeck College, London University as well as Senate House, and it has always been organised under the mottos: "All welcome and no registration is required" and "meetings are open to all". 

But no sooner is this young professor given the responsibility of organising attendance at KCL, it suddenly becomes poorly, barely advertised on the internet and attendance is completely mismanaged. 

Here's how the mess unfolded.

First, on the 17th January, some Assistant prof at Nottingham University (Antonio Salgado Borge) tweeted a black background post with details about a London Spinoza Circle event on the 6th February, twice in one day, one with only standard generic yellow coloured emoji hands 👇👇👇, the other post with only brown ones 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽, not sure why these hands needed to be separated out into different yet identical posts on the same day🤔. 

Here's one tweet 

Here's the other tweet

(You can't find it on his timeline amongst his posts on the 17th Jan and later on the 6th Feb but the posts are still there and I have screenshots). 

Alex Douglas who helps out at the London Spinoza Circle retweeted it without comment, John Heyderman who also helps out hasn't tweeted since 6/12/23. And of course, none of them have set up any designated social media channels for the London Spinoza Circle, only one simple WordPress website that hasn't listed this event for 6th February 2024. 

https://londonspinozacircle.wordpress.com/

There is a need for this website to be kept up to date and modernised. That way we have transparency and we all know what we are doing and don't miss events through lack of information or misinformation. Well, as long as the people posting on this website don't make it up as they go along and mislead you into false narratives that Professor Susan James has to then waste her time correcting in person. Why is anyone who's helping within the Circle even posting information that she wouldn't have asked them to do, she wouldn't have agreed with, and is plainly wrong? For instance, the ad for the 15th June London Spinoza Circle event falsely claimed that that day would "sadly be the Circle’s final meeting." This clearly misled someone checking the website who then commented: 

"....whether there will be any other Spinoza reading groups after the dissolution of London Spinoza Circle?"

To which the feeble reply was:

"I’ve changed that line because I’m not actually sure about the future of the LSC."

Well, why did you post that in the first place then, if you weren't sure? It's all very well that this fake news was removed from the event description on this website and corrected in the comments section: 

https://londonspinozacircle.wordpress.com/2023/05/02/dimitris-vardoulakis-15-june/

However, this false impression that the Circle was ending is still uncorrected on the Liverpool University events listing website and nobody posted any corrections or reminders afterwards on this Liverpool website, so leaving this as the only story there:

See here 

So Professor Susan James had to announce at the beginning of that 15th June Circle talk that it's merely the last Circle event to be held at Birkbeck College, but the London Spinoza Circle is not being dissolved and it is certainly not the last event. This makes complete sense, given her retirement after being Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College University of London since 2000. 

I'm frankly absolutely astounded by the disloyalty of Professor Susan James's past students, such as these ones who help with her Circle. It's distasteful and unethical to behave like that towards her. It goes against all common decency to try to come across as helpful and supportive while acting treacherously and breeching her trust. And then have the nerve to preach to others about morals while acting amoral themselves! 

Anyway, back to how the ads for the 6th February event unfolded:

After the tweets about the 6th February event, came the Facebook post from 'Early Modern Resources' who managed to cut off the bottom of the announcement, so one person's name is left out and all details about emailing for a visitor pass is left out. 

Here's that post. 

So everyone on Facebook was given the impression that they could just turn up on the day as usual, certainly without emailing anyone in advance. Yet this announcement was 'liked' by academics, including a KCL lecturer, John Callanan, who organised the BSHP annual Lecture November 2023 and has previously organised KCL seminars and knows and is a colleague of this young, newbie prof. He is also a member of KHOPS which is suddenly cited as apparently being affiliated with the London Spinoza Circle for this event and the BSHP apparently 'supported' this London Spinoza Circle event, whatever that means, given that they didn't list it on their BSHP Website under events they've actually funded/supported:

https://bshp.org.uk/events/events-supported-by-bshp/ 

Worse still, there's no upcoming events in 2024 on this list. It also has out-of-date details about the London Spinoza Circle, because, as Professor Susan James announced at the beginning of the talk last summer (15 June 2023), the London Spinoza Circle will no longer be held at Birkbeck College, University of London. 

So you'd think John Callanan would help clarify the missing details on their Facebook posts about the Circle, not just 'like' it. 

Then came the young prof's post the next day, 18th January, on Liverpool University's website, which repeated all the tweeted details, although failed to mention who people are meant to email, which is a problem, given that they auto-hide the email address provided in her post. So unless you are at Liverpool University and so can log in to unhide the email address, it's anyone's guess who you are meant to email so you can make it through the main door. 🤷

Here's the ad.

Interestingly, this newbie prof is also the Director of some 'holiness' course created for Christian, religious purposes back in the 19th century (called AKC, I'll post about it later) for the wider college at King's College, London. So she's a director who's supposed to be capable of managing an entire 3 year, degree equivalent course, yet she seems incapable of managing a simple room allocation and KCL building access for one, informal, relaxed, regular academic event lasting just a couple of hours. (How does she manage to do her research?) 

It's the newbie prof's responsibility as co-convener and as the named email contact, to make sure that all who wish to attend can do so. A 'small' room means fewer people can attend. How about finding a larger room? Or did that conveniently never cross her mind? There were very few events going on that day, especially for that campus area. 

Or was the event a non-event, in some way? It's not the only nonsense ad at KCL. Longtime Professor Susan James's name was provisionally down as a speaker for the 28th February at KHOPS (seminars run by the KCL philosophy department called The History of Philosophy Cluster) before it was later the only Spring Term talk removed from their event site, and within just 3 weeks. And despite the ads for the 6th February event claiming that the London Spinoza Circle is affiliated to KHOPS for this event, as far as I can see, the KHOPS website never mentions this 6th February event anywhere and it doesn't list it amongst their events:

See here for KHOPS upcoming events this Spring term. 

So I take it that KCL Philosophy events do not disseminate reliable information, especially when it comes to Professor Susan James and her Circle of which she is the leader and founder. 

Hence, according to X (formerly Twitter) and Liverpool University events listing, apparently one has to email clare.carlisle@kcl.ac.uk just to "access the building" at KCL if you are not a 'member' of the university (a non-existent, meaningless phrase that people don't use). Note, no mention of booking or limited spaces. 

Most people attending the Spinoza Circle won't be KCL members, surely, so you're favouring those on the inside of KCL and excluding loyal members of the London Spinoza Circle. Thus, any number of these so called 'members' can just pop in as they please.

This makes a nonsense of the notion of notifying someone (or booking) in advance since it is impossible to know when the room will be full because you can't count the 'members' in advance. And the only so-called 'members' are 'members' of the KCL community, as they call it when they want to get them on the AKC holiness course. 🤔

My mother and I booked the BSHP Annual Rosa Antognazza Lecture November 2023. When we arrived at Reception, I showed security on the desk our booking details and he gave us a red event sticker each, see below for a photo of my sticker I received: 

This is a large, annual lecture held in a very large lecture theatre, for a large Society with registered Charity status, yet all you have to do is book online and collect a simple little sticker to put on your jumper on the day. However, people attending the London Spinoza Circle the same academic year, simply for an informal scholarly meeting, are given the impression that they require a Visitor Pass so that they can get through an unnecessary barrier and security guy at their uni, as though weirdos are only on the outside never on the inside. Hardly! The 'Christmas Day Bomber' had been a UCL student and a student society president who didn't need to queue for stickies or passes when he sailed through as a student organiser of a university conference on the War on Terror! 

I'm still wondering what Visitor Pass is being referred to. 🤔 It's not the Library one for London University students, so they can read library books there but not have access to the KCL buildings: 

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/libraries/uol-visit-form

And it can't be this Library one for Independent Researchers like myself because that wouldn't help me access the buildings to attend the London Spinoza Circle. Library only, do not look left or right, only quickly in and out of the library. And of course, I wouldn't apply for anything like this because some academic institutions use library access as an excuse to touch up your research and claim it somewhat belongs to them

https://libanswers.kcl.ac.uk/faq/254055

And KCL seems to like to chalk up everything they can find to boost their research impact paperwork. As I understand it, merely by this young Professor of Philosophy of Religion who works within the KCL Theology department (but nevertheless seems to flit between the KCL Theology and Philosophy departments) helping out and occasionally turning up to the London Spinoza Circle, the KCL Theology department gave themselves research collaboration credit for it in 2021:

https://results2021.ref.ac.uk/environment/statements/unit/d8fba70c-c0fa-44e1-9d46-0186f8eaeb6c

Partly perhaps because they've decided to call her a co-organiser of the circle, leaving out all other names including the founder Professor Susan James. Yet, at the last circle event (that this young professor didn't attend) Sue referred to her as one of three co-conveners. Dictionaries define such a convener as "a person whose job it is to call people together for meetings" and at the correct day and time. So she's clearly not doing her co-convener job properly then. 

Furthermore , this document above refers to the London Spinoza Circle as the "UK’s leading research forum in Spinoza studies". True. So, by refusing to give me access to the building and room, she's knowingly excluding and preventing me, an Independent Philosophy Researcher, from attending such a leading research forum, which is within a main philosophy research field of mine ie Spinoza on whom I've written an original 3 volume body of work. Hence, she's now interfered with my research work and my research impact. Additionally, she's excluded me continuing to participate in the London Spinoza community and the History of Philosophy scene in London, something her colleague John Callanan refers to on Facebook as being important. Her actions are totally unacceptable. It's not only a misuse of her power and position over me despite a narrow age gap between us but is also a case of the rich, powerful institution using its power over the poorer, much less powerful individual. So much for this nonsense about Susan James trying to exert any power or influence over me. That's something she has never done so if you cling to that false narrative you can uncling because it's BS. And you know it's BS. 🐂💩

Yes, one woman is trying to use power and influence over me simply because she attends the same circle as me. It's the newbie prof who has (religious) power and influence over any staff, student or KCL alumni through the AKC course and the KCL Dean's Office which, incidentally, consists of 2 Reverends! Except I've never studied at KCL so she shouldn't confuse me with her AKC/KCL students.

Surely the pass mentioned in the ads can't be the Visa for Visitors from around the world who want an appointment to see someone at KCL:

Here's the PDF for it

So, to look willing, despite the ridiculousness and irregularities in the ads, my mother emailed (Friday, February 2nd) the said newbie prof (and the BSHP Chair email alongside it because apparently the BSHP society is supporting the event) to request two stickers for myself and her, like the ones we received in November for the annual BSHP annual Lecture, only to be told in the newbie's reply email, just under a hour later, that the London Spinoza Circle event (that has never needed booking and didn't ask you to book in the event description) is "fully booked".🤔 

So, you suddenly can't attend something you've already attended for many years at a different University, with the same professor who founded the circle in the first place, Susan James. 

The one to deny us access to the building and circle event hasn't even been at the circle as long as me, doesn't have my email, which is just as well because she is either wholly unreliable, if we give her a charitable reading, or discriminatory, if we don't. 

This newbie prof/ AKC director was given a chance to organise the circle properly at her own university and blew it, as far as I'm concerned. She's proved that had I, or my mother, emailed to request the zoom code for the online London Spinoza Circle events during the Pandemic, we either wouldn't have received one or been told that there are no places available which is why we didn't bother.   

And, to really make sure you know you are being messed about by her, after my mother emailed the newbie prof to ask for the stickers to be able to enter the building to attend, and before she replied by email, a re-post of the shoddy notice on the University of Liverpool events listing website (notice not on the London Spinoza Circle website) appears. This repost is also submitted by her to the quick turnaround software manager that handles the website. So right around the time she's claiming it's already fully booked, she's sending out a "reminder" for people to come along, with all the same details including the small room, other than she suddenly refers to the event as a symposium! That's illogical. If it's a symposium, then it's bigger than a seminar so it would now have needed a bigger room so there's space for us to all turn up after all. Unsurprisingly, she doesn't change the room and never reverses her decision that forces us to miss the event. 

Just 15 minutes after this public post (published 2:11pm), at 2:26pm, she replies to my mother's email request for stickers, or 'pass' as the newbie prof likes to call it, with an 'it's fully booked' response. 

Having a laugh, right!? We need to take a closer look at universities and their preaching extreme right wing Christianity. This newbie professor is an individual who has had several of her research projects funded by Templeton, a far-right, homophobic, US evangelical funder (who has now cut off philosophy funding - good!).  So no wonder that, to cap it all, in the auto fields at the bottom of her email right after KCL in rainbow colours, she thinks it's relevant to include an advert for her moralistic book about marriage. 

That book is not relevant to the London Spinoza Circle and why include the marriage book and not the George Eliot translation of Spinoza and her book on Spinoza, both her last two, recently published books? 🤔 It's on George Eliot's so-called double life that scandalised society back in that era. Presumably, she's referring to Eliot living with a man while he's still married to another woman. Well, divorce wasn't easy to obtain then or now. It's only very recently that you no longer have to slander your spouse to access a divorce.

So it's an inappropriate, irrelevant book ad to single out when handling London Spinoza Circle events. 

On the day, late morning (11:06am), 6th February, the Nottingham University lecturer retweets his own tweet, tagging in Alex Douglas who would know if it's full or not because the event is all about his book, he's a speaker, and helps with the circle. Yet no mention is made from either of them that the event is full. On the contrary, it gives the impression it's retweeted to encourage you to come along so clearly not full. 

See here

If that's not explicit enough, Lauren Slater, who used to help out at the circle for a short time, tweeted this on the day, 6th Feb, 1:03pm (just 2 hours before it starts):

"If you’re in London, get yourself along to see my man talk about his excellent new book! 🙌🏻"

See here (tweet 'liked' by Alex Douglas himself, the Nottingham Lecturer who tweeted about the event, Simon Hewitt [who, like Alex Douglas, was also one of my tutorial tutor/markers at Birkbeck for my BA in Philosophy] and a few more). 

Yes, we were trying to! Blame the co-convener handling the emails for the event!