If you want a job, why not blog it? James McConvill, senior law lecturer at La Trobe University and prolific blogger, has.

In a recent post, “My Case to Become Head of Deakin Law School“, McConvill presents his ten-point argument for why he should replace outgoing head Mirko Bagaric.
“I think there is
one candidate for the position that must not be overlooked. Me.”

For self-promotion it doesn’t get more shameless. Still,
McConvill’s
unlikely to be fazed by such accusations – he cites “the hubris of the
young” as one of the reasons he should get the job. And with a promise of ensuring that Deakin Law “kicks some serious butt
with its research performance”, who wouldn’t be tempted to make him head, if only to see what happens next?

Over at Larvatus Prodeo,
Shaun reckons it’s all a hoax. “It has to be.
There is
simply no other rational explanation for what happens at that blog.”
But McConvill, who stares imperiously from his blog
header, is the real deal. He told Crikey today that while he’s “very
happy” in his current position at La Trobe he’s interested in the “superior position”. Blogging about it, he says, is “in
the spirit of public discourse”.

Meanwhile, if part of the Deakin job description is to be
controversial, McConvill would certainly be a worthy successor to Mirko
“sometimes torture is OK” Bagaric. Here are extracts from some of his op-eds:

  • There is one sure-fire way to deal with the dreadful conditions
    within Aboriginal communities in Northern Australia – the forced
    removal of Aboriginal children. – “Time to remove the neglected generation”, Online Opinion
  • Within the next 12 months, every Australian academic should be
    blogging on a regular basis, otherwise they should seriously consider
    their future in academia. – “Blog or be damned?”, Online Opinion

  • In contemporary society, a great number of
    parents, and in particular mothers who are usually the resident parent,
    use their children as a status symbol, to compensate for the life they
    have “given up” to become a mother, or the alternative life that they
    have never had. – “Time for mothers to raise their children, not their status”, Online Opinion

  • If
    a woman is willing and able to be a mother, and fit nicely into the
    traditional model of the loving wife and devoted mother, she should do
    so. Women should be able to work part-time so long as this does not
    jeopardise their primary role within the home. Alternatively, if a
    woman wants to be successful in a paid career, again she should do so.
    If she, at any time, develops a desire to have children, she should
    then revert to the first option. – “Give Up, Girls, You Can’t Have It All”, Herald Sun