Thread by @JAFMacDonald

It’s a red letter day in @EdinGeography: the last undergraduate lecture of Professor Charles W.J. Withers FBA, FRSE, Geographer Royal for Scotland etc.

Charlie’s giving it dressed as Darth Vader. Can’t explain, but brace for tweets.

For those unfamiliar with Charlie, he is a distinguished historical geographer and historian of science who until retirement holds the Ogilvie Chair of Geography at @GeosciencesEd.

Ok, so the students had no prior warning and they are … mostly confused. It’s the recap lecture for their course The Nature of Geographical Knowledge.

A student has arrived late. Well freaked.

Darth Withers has announced some in-helmet humidity issues.

I feel like I might actually be tripping.

Prof Darth Withers is deadpanning this so brilliantly, I fear the university may start introducing cosplay as an innovative teaching method. #excellence

There’s some learned discussion about trust and truth in geography – the conflation of moral acuity with visual integrity – all this while breathing heavily. And that helmet tho.

We’re on Halford Mackinder now - imperial theme, natch - light sabre marking out ‘the geographical pivot of history’.

We must be nearing the end … naturally wondering which one of my colleagues is about to discover a new family history.

And that’s it. Finished with a flourish and a inspiring quote from Kropotkin, followed by “can I take my hat off now?”

There endeth the tweets; special thanks to @EricLaurier for the stagecraft and choreography. And props, always, to CWJW for being a cast iron legend.