This was the strangest of PhD tutorials. The chair of the session sat at the front of a room and a full class of students, most of whom looked like undergraduates listening in on the discussions. What surprised me most of all was that my cousin TB’s best friend AFW revealed himself to be a skilled PhD supervisor. I was astonished. I’d always believed that he was a farmer.

After the tutorial discussions a Motown girl group sang at the front of the class. The singers clearly hoped that their performance might be worthy of a doctorate. It was not.