You may scoff, but our students won't
Although it may seem presumptuous of one of those cursorily dismissed "poorer universities and colleges" to take issue with both Simon Blackburn and John Stuart Mill in one letter, might I suggest...
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A noisome affair
Martin Cohen's unpleasant review of my book Believing Bullshit ("Strong whiff of a weak argument", 21 July) begins: "Do you believe in God? Or even wonder if there might be a purpose to the universe...
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Free thinkers will not apply
The president of the British Academy astutely notes ("Reforms pose danger, but arts and humanities should prosper", 23 July) that the bulk of the White Paper is an attempt to address "issues" arising...
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Joined-up nonsense
Having read the joint statement from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Research Councils UK and Universities UK on impact, published undated on the RCUK website, I wondered if Laurie...
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Which way the whim blows
As noted in "REF guidance sets up the starting blocks" (21 July), "if an output involves collaborators from more than one university, all institutions may submit it and panels will assess it on an '...
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Risk-based risky business
Roger King is right ("Safeguarding quality could soon become a very risky business", 21 July) to urge caution before the sector grabs the notion in the recent White Paper that some institutions might...
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Architects of their own woes
Responsibility for the problems in higher education may partly lie with some of the philosophies that prevail in the academic community itself. There is currently a lot of criticism of the...
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Newman's evergreen truths
"The secret to saving our universities" (14 July) reminded me of these lines from John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University."If then a practical end must be assigned to a university course, I say...
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Far from ideal
It may well be true that "Reading Aristotle can roll back the tide of relativism" (21 July), but I wonder how far Socrates and Plato can be pressed into service in the "struggle against subjectivism...
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Unruly humanities scholars threaten the discipline, event hears
An ill-disciplined bunch? Academics in the humanities were wrong to claim that their work is 'inherently disruptive' (Picture credit: Kobal)Academics who celebrate "indiscipline" over basic...
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Film review: Poetry
Duncan Wu considers how the quiet dignity of a veteran actress creates an impressive drama
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Phil Scott, 1953-2011
As well as being an avid fan of Sunderland Football Club and a keen mountain biker, Phil Scott was strongly committed to science education.It was this passion that led him from the classroom to the...
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THE Scholarly Web
Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere
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Campus round-up
University of AberdeenWicked switch of the WestResearchers have discovered a DNA "switch" that turns on certain genes in cells that may show that Europeans are more predisposed to binge on fatty food...
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Odds and quads
These are among the more unusual items held by the John Hay Library at Brown University on Rhode Island.