What even is this blog?
Updated: Sep 27
So! I have started a blog!
I am not entirely sure how this will go, or how my work will be received now that is it out in public more. Nonetheless, being an academic in 2026 means doing lots of self-promotion and independent work. This is my first steps into that task. In this post, I want to talk a little about what this blog is all about, and what kind of content I plan on posting here.
This blog has two main aims. The first is to share news, events and reflections to keep you updated about what I am up to, how things are going, and to provide a space for me to shout about my achievements. For instance, I will shortly be posting about my experience of attending and presenting at this year's BISA (British International Studies Association) Conference in Brighton!
The second, and most exciting, aim is to share my thoughts, practice my writing, and engage in discourse outside of, and parallel to, academic publishing. One of the things I have loved about researching a PhD is the amount of time I have had to dig deeply into a topic, and explore how I can engage and contribute to it. But, writing it all into a single thesis has been tricky. This has left many ideas on the cutting-room floor, either because they were not relevant enough to include in the final thesis, or because they were not fully developed by the time my thesis was finalized. So, this is a space for some of those thoughts. Though, mostly, this is a place for me to play around with ideas and engage in not-quite-academic thinking, separate from the more traditional academic writing that I will share journals, books and teaching.
Blog Topics
In terms of the topics covered in this blog, there are quite a few! Mainly, there will be original academic content, and highlights of recent events I have taken part in. The original academic content will include material not included in peer-reviewed publishing and books. Some of this will be traditionally academic, reflecting on ideas like Human/Machine Teaming, Ontology, Epistemology, or Discourse analysis. Other work will be more playful, reflecting on security and/or chaplaincy in popular culture and media. For instance, I plan on posting a series of pieces about possible depictions of Military Chaplaincy / Pastoral Care in Marvel Films like Spider-Man: Far From Home and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
I also plan on posting reviews of television, movies and books which are relevant for my work. For instance, I am currently writing reviews on each season of BBC's Vigil series. I also plan on writing reviews about academic books which I do not intend to publish in academic journals.
Alongside notifying you of upcoming events, I also plan on writing about these events, and other highlights to reflect on these experiences and develop insights gained from them. For instance, I have posted a preview of my "accidental writing retreat", which shares some highlights from the last few months.
I plan on releasing series' of posts which all comment on a certain topic or issue. For instance, I plan on releasing a series of posts all about various Marvel films and series as these share Marvel in common, and also comment on some overarching trends.
Over the next few months I will also be posting "Preview" posts on the main blog. Typically, these posts would be exclusive to Patrion subscribers. However, to celebrate the creation of this blog, and to give readers a taste of upcoming content (and to entice you to join my Patrion) whilst I am building up a stock of work, these previews will be included in the main blog.
All this content explores the Venn Diagram of security, chaplaincy and technology, and charts my academic journey as I start this new stage in my career. It will undoubtedly evolve as this space develops, but I hope this gives you a sense of the kind of content that I will be posting here.
Disclaimers
Even though this website's format was built using AI tools (See my blog post "Preview: Aria and I Built a Website"), AI was not used to write this - or any other - of my blog content. The only AI tools used in the making of this blog post were the automatic in-built formatting software used by WIX Blogs, and spell/grammar checkers. They did not alter the wording or content of this post, or shape my thinking. In future posts, this will also be the case. If - in the rare cases where - AI is used in the creating of my content, this will be made clear at the beginning and end of the post, including which AI was used to write the blog, and how it was used.
In 2026, it is hard to strip writing from its technological context. We write using word processing tools, we publish and share ideas using AI powered computing, and our research inevitably encounters AI generated knowledge. We can choose to ignore this AI generated content (choosing not to read the AI worded answers which pop up at the top of an Internet Search, for instance). But we cannot underestimate or ignore their involvement in all that we do and see online. Simply stating that I did not write this, or any of my other work, using AI diminishes the influence AI generation and AI-generated content has on our thinking, and the ways that those thoughts are shared online. Yet, all we can do about this is be honest about the tools that we use and the ways that we generate knowledge. I - as far as I can tell - have not used AI to generate the knowledge shared on this blog, and have not used AI to write words or formulate content shared in this blog. Where there are exceptions to this, I will make it clear to you. In return I ask that you refrain from using AI in your engagements with this site aside from accessibility requirements. Please do not use AI to generate your comments, and do not scrape this site using AI to generate similar knowledge.
Likewise, I promise to be clear about who authors content on my site. Where others have generated content, (e.g the sources of images, quotes, ideas or other authors of content), I will attribute these ideas and make authorship clear.
Lastly, no content on this site is taken from my published or unpublished work, aside from general knowledge (e.g. the definition of Human/Machine Teaming used in my recent post "Preview: Aria and I Built a Website"), or work that has been significantly developed from what I have shared here and later used in academic publishing. Where overlaps between this blog and my published work occur, I will clearly label work to make it clear how this blog contributes to the tapestry of academic work I am building. This is not a space to duplicate or draft my academic articles!
Of course, though I do not expect heaps of comments on my posts, I should state clearly that any abusive, hateful or inappropriate comments will be removed and the poster blocked from making comments in future. If you see something on this website that you think should be removed, please contact me using the form here: Contact | Dr Kenneth Wilkinson.
I hope that these disclaimers make clear how I am using this space, and clarify that all the work here is clearly my own (unless I state otherwise).
How to support me
To support my work, and help me to sustain this space, please join my mailing list, where you can receive monthly newsletters highlighting new posts, related work and other news. Also, please join this site and comment on my blog posts, I would love to hear what you think of my work! If you are feeling particularly generous, you can support me financially though the links found here: Support | Dr Kenneth Wilkinson. My Patreon, in particular, will include exclusive content like previews of upcoming blog posts and early access to details of events. You can also follow me on social media, including LinkedIn, just search for my name. All of these things help boost engagement with, and the visibility of, my work which is so valuable in the current academic climate.
Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me, and for reading this far down the page! I look forward to hearing what you think of my work, and developing knowledge with you!
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