Infiltrating a Middle Class Academic gang .

MY guess would be they will appreciate the other skills and experience you bring.  Yes you are doing yourself a disservice is my guess

Everybody has a useful skill set, especially on a project like this. I went from plastering to eventually a post grad in History and had the same worries as you, hadn’t written more than an invoice for 20 years and wondered how I would fit in. Just because you did manual work doesn’t mean you couldn’t have done something academic.

Of course you should give it a go. You'll have skills and opinions that are valid and valuable, and diversity is not just a race/gender issue.

If nothing else,  they will probably have decent wine.

I think you’re overthinking this. They’ll look at your skills and what you can bring to the situation as a positive for them and the visitors to the attraction. It’s so easy to talk yourself out of something. Good luck!

skilled by the look of the work they are reproducing and there’s an opportunity for me to get involved with wood carving etc which I’m interested in

sounds like this would be great for those working in 'experimental archaeology' ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_archaeology) that seeks to understand the past using practical skills such as woodwork and carpentry, so yes, definitely, your skills will be a huge asset! I am a great fan of 'learning through doing'. (I'm an academic working in heritage).

Imposter syndrome because your a perfectionist? If so, you'll likely fit right in.

Good for you, volunteers do a lot of work and are from all backgrounds, once you get started and meet a few folk you'll be fine...they are us like us .....people! Oh and you should get to drinks loads of tea....which may help from your other recent post;)

Definitely give it a try nothing ventured nothing gained.

Can you make tea?

If you read what everyone thinks of scaffolders on that other thread, that's basically how they'll view you. 😉

Nah, no way. Give it a go. Common ground can be found with anyone and your shared interests in that area are a great start.

There have had careers based on pretending to know more than they do. Don’t be fooled and crack on

I come from a family of lightermen but went to university instead of taking up the apprenticeship so I've seen a bit of both sides. I have mates down the pub who are IT and bricklaying geniuses and have respect for both (I can do neither). Academics are often very competitive with each other and would probably find you to be a refreshing blast of a grounded person. Go for it!

So long as you show interest and willingness to learn I think it would be unlikely they care.
Anyone getting involved in that sort of project by default is going to be someone wanting to interact with people outside pure acedemia.
Plus if its a practical project your manual worker background may give some insights they currently dont have.

Try it and see.

If you think of the role you're looking at.... 'experts' in a field aren't necessarily good explainers. People who are well versed in a subject often find it difficult to find the point to start when conveying information to others and miss essential steps those people need in understand . It's much better for the person who's conveying information to the public to have the same questions to answer as they would. They need to be engaged and articulate but it really helps if they themselves are an outsider.

One of the best examples of this is this guy.

The authoritative voice and face of 'science' in my formative years was James Burke - before he became a science presenter he was a teacher of Middle English and writer of art encyclopaedias. The BBC's method when choosing people to present factual subjects was to have them presented by someone  who was an outsider in that field (you'll notice these days a lot of our science programming is fronted by comedians). James Burke's strength was that he didn't know anything about nuclear physics or molecular bonds or gravitational forces. But to be able to talk to us about them he had to find out - so if he interviewed some great science thinker he knew he was smart enough to understand what they had to say - if his couldn't grasp what he was being told he knew it wants his fault it was theirs - he knew the iinterview wasnt right until he actually did understand  what he was being told and he'd keep pressing until things had been explained in a way that he, therefore the rest of us, could engage with.

So think of yourself as a useful outsider - if you're there as a guide you're an ally to the visitors not the representative of the archeologists

Yep, very much the above.

That's Voyager 2 in the launch, incidentally, which is in the news again.

I’d strongly recommend watching’The Dig’ with Ralph Fiennes .
quite appropriate in your situation!

Some academics are pretentious ****ers, some are really nice people who are thrilled when someone is actually interested in what they do. One problem is that when you have a bunch of people who are obsessed about something, it's very difficult for newcomers to break in (imagine someone completely new to mountain biking trying to make sense of most of the threads on this forum). However, if you have manual skills, those can be really handy - you'll probably be ten times as fast and do a much better job on things you know how to do compared to a novice. Give it a try. If they actually are ****ers, walk away. If they are decent people, persist.

I’d strongly recommend watching’The Dig’ with Ralph Fiennes .
quite appropriate in your situation!

Great film, although the establishment never accepted him and we was expunged from all official records until very recently, so probably not a very good example!

Simple view...

They will either appreciate you, your skills and interest

OR

They're not worth a second thought, which is not the same as you doing yourself a disservice.

Do it. Don't be intimidated. A lot of technical talk is just jargon. If they really know their stuff and they will be enthusiastic to tell you and chew your ear off if you ask them. If they are being pretentious they will make out it's too complicated. You will be able to figure out who the good guys are.

Honestly this is going one of two ways in my limited experience. Either they embrace you wholeheartedly for the skills and knowledge you have and take care to find out about you and your skills. Or they’re exclusionary with no idea how to relate to people outwith their direct sphere of interest.

Go for it. I went for a part time job with the attitude I may or may not like it. Give it a few months to  decide. I was there 10 years. Unless you try you won't know.

I can't find the fast show clip...

You know mini kievs? Do they come under starters or main course?

Academics love a bit of rough.

You're definitely doing yourself a disservice.
Get involved - with an open mind; you'll soon know if it's not for you - or you're not for them.

Ha, an academic here. Like other walks of life we’re not a homogenous group (and some don’t used words like ‘homogeneous’). Beyond of course join in, they’ll likely be impressed and envious of your practical skills, and be enthusiastic to share detail on C12th pottery fragments.

My walking mates are all from v different backgrounds, we get on well as are v different.  I actually think that diversity is the key, to be honest noones really bothered what anyone does or did, as there's a common goal we get on ok.  The retired lawyer seems to get the most pxxx take for some reason.

So go for it, if you don't get on just find another group.

Try it. If you don't like it, stop trying it. Any further questions? 😁

Academics weren't born academic, they were exposed to knowledge. Maybe it'll be the same for you. Maybe it won't. Maybe they'll want to utilise your existing talents and stick you in the carpentry room with a chisel.

But none of that will happen if you sit on your hands going "well, I don't know..." and no-one ever laid on their death bed thinking "man, I wish I'd done less stuff." Well, unless that stuff is fags and booze.

... and be honest, you already know the answer to this, don't you. You just need some reassurance and confidence from hearing the vocal section of STW telling you to stop being a nob and get on with it.

So, stop being a nob and get on with it.

Academics weren’t born academic

But more often than not they were born middle class, that's just a statistical fact. The overwhelming majority of heritage professionals will be middle class and heritage values reflect this - consider the number of hospitals, factories and back to back houses (working class heritage) the National Trust owns compared to houses of middle class writers, artists and poets or stately homes and mansions. There's a whole thesis built around the idea, it's called the Authorised Heritage Discourse. Middle and Upper class values define what heritage is.
As someone with a first class heritage degree and a very strong working class accent, I can assure you that it's pretty difficult to fit into the culture if you're not part of it and no amount of education or knowledge bridges the culture divide.
My advice to the OP is, stick with it if you can but you're not alone in feeling excluded. They'll probably be happy with you using your hands so long as they're telling you how to use them.

I got the impression that aside from the 2 paid staff that clearly were from an academic background so were most of the volunteers as well . They seem very

skilled by the look of the work they are reproducing and there’s an opportunity for me to get involved with wood carving etc which I’m interested in .

One thing with those involved with archaeology, is that many started off volunteering on digs, as students or just through an interest in the subject, and quite a few of those went on to study the subject and get qualifications in it. One of the most frequently asked questions by archaeologists who have recently qualified, is “would you like chips with that?” 😉

Yes, I am being facetious, but it’s certainly true that there aren’t many actual jobs available for those who have qualified, so are forced to find other jobs, and just carry on doing volunteer work when available.
An acquaintance of mine trained to be a teacher, but he did a lot of volunteer work at digs, and carried on studying archaeology, and eventually he packed in the teaching and managed to get lucky and land a job with Wessex Archaeology, quite often on Time Team digs, sometimes to be seen off in the background somewhere. He still works for them, but more admin now.

Another friend of ours who’d done part-time pub work, went off to Uni in Wales to study archaeology, got digs (see what I did there?) in a local pub, used to manage the place to help out, but there were no archaeological jobs available after she qualified so she ended up as manager in a bunch of different restaurants.
The biggest advantage is to have enthusiasm for what you’re doing, and talking to everyone working there - if you have practical skills that can be applied to the job, then the swapping of information becomes almost natural.

I’m fascinated by most things with an ‘ology’ on the end, I’m not academic in the slightest, but I’ve picked up enough basic knowledge about many of the subjects to be able to hold a quite involved conversation with people in the field, and that’s what’s important.

Go for it, it sounds like a fantastic opportunity!

“Academics” are as varied as any other group of people - there’ll be some nice people and some assholes. No reason why you can’t fit in.

I have two pals who are academics.  Both a bit weird and with both you need to make an effort to have a conversation.  But once you get them started all you have to do is smile and nod.

33 posts and no-one's mentioned STW? I iz disappointed 🤣

imagine someone completely new to mountain biking trying to make sense of most of the threads on this forum

You don't have to imagine 😉

Do you have jumper with reinforced elbows? I’m pretty sure that’s all you need.