ABSTRACT
The very architecture of lecture theatres inscribes discourses of expertise and authority on the process of lecturing. Standing at a podium is, in itself, a position of authority, a position from which one demonstrates/performs one's expertise. This chapter focuses on particular aspects of authority in relation to lecturing in Cultural Studies. It explores the notion of authority as expertise and the lecturer as the person who not only possesses this expertise but is also able to mediate the expertise of others. The chapter examines the power derived from the office of being a university lecturer: the power to determine what counts as knowledge on the part of students; the power to admit or refuse admission to applicants for courses; the power to judge the expertise or otherwise of students at various levels of academic work from undergraduate to doctoral student. The chapter examines the 'cultural practices, categories, and concepts' of the 'system of power' within which university lecturers operate.
