ABSTRACT

Imagine that, in the normal run of things, you are sitting at work in your professional setting, in front of your class of students, or the committee of which you are chair or the colleague whom you and the panel are interviewing. As you become involved in the proceedings, with its explicit or implicit agenda, you find yourself distracted by the regular and somewhat penetrative gaze of an individual to whom you have not been introduced. What is more, she appears to have a tape recorder running and is making notes. What questions cross your mind? Maybe some or all of the following-and others:

‘Who is she?’ ‘Who gave her permission to be here?’ ‘What have I been saying, for God’s sake?’ ‘Who is she working for?’ ‘What is she making of all this?’ ‘What’s a fly on the wall like her doing in a place like this?’