First Impressions
This week's competition, in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, is taken from a work by a travel writer best known for his books about Asia: "I had been afraid of Russia ever...
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Asbestos pants are all part of a nun-like life
The Gatekeeper
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Granite responses to an age in flux
Funeral Monuments in Post-Reformation England
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Happy ending to fairytale of purity
The Fragility of Goodness
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The Laurie Taylor column
The vice-chancellor will see you now, Professor Lapping. Thank you. Ah, there you are. Grab a pew. Now, look here, Copping. I understand you recently attended a lunch given by the Poppleton Rotary...
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Leader: Clear thinking at the top can curb 'initiative-itis'
Signs of hope at the heart of the Labour Party: higher education's old friends, David Triesman and Charles Clarke are planning some lateral thinking about the big trends in society, the impact of...
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Truth isn't out there 4
Martin Coward is correct that postmodernism opposes dogmatic claims about truth (Letters, THES , March 29). But by removing the possibility of rational justification, it leaves dogmatism or nihilism...
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In brief 1
Developing countries and the agencies that work with them are ignoring a huge source of expert help: academics who have recently retired and who would be delighted to be involved in teaching,...
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In brief 2
Laurie Taylor's example article of "How universally nonsensical is WUDJ?" in The International Journal of Nonsense Syllables ( THES , March 29) falls at the first hurdle. The syllable in question is...
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In brief 3
"The Domesday Book was written in medieval French." No, not a student's error, but an extract from an exhibition on the history of Coventry, accompanied by a clear illustration of the relevant...
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Gats protection
The National Union of Students is concerned about the detrimental impact of the General Agreement on Trade in Services on the provision of services in post-16 education (Soapbox, THES , March 22)....
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Pointless exercise
The National University of Ireland is lowering degree thresholds to 60 from 62 and from 55 to 50 per cent as the lower boundaries of 2:2 and 2:1 grades ("Irish looking to widen grading bands", THES...
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Strike balance on quality checks 1
It is a pity that Michael Loughlin is so unrelievedly cynical about quality reforms in higher education (Features, THES , March 22). True, there have been a succession of quality fads and a good deal...
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Strike balance on quality checks 2
You will not publish a more important article on the future of British higher education than Michael Loughlin's piece on the takeover of universities by management "science". I agree with his two...
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Hope in history
Ian McDonald encapsulates as many ambiguities as the Indian nation ("A nation on the brink?", THES , March 22). While the side-heading said "groups of young men could be relied on to kill their...