Monthly Archives: October 2016

“Campus carry” and academic freedom: The emerging reality

“Campus carry” and academic freedom: The emerging reality

In 2015, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 11, also known as the “campus carry” law, at a shooting range. The law permits the concealed carry of guns in dorms, classrooms, and buildings at state universities and community colleges, while leaving individual schools some latitude to keep parts of their properties firearm-free, extending the reach of […] … learn more→

Yes, mathematics can be decolonised. Here’s how to begin

Yes, mathematics can be decolonised. Here’s how to begin

At a time when decolonisation, part of which involves changing the content of what’s taught, is dominating debate at many universities, the discipline of mathematics presents at interesting case. But it’s not obvious how mathematics can be decolonised at the level of content. This means that those within the discipline must consider other aspects: curriculum […] … learn more→

The grey zone: How questionable research practices are blurring the boundary between science and misconduct

The grey zone: How questionable research practices are blurring the boundary between science and misconduct

Earlier this year, Paolo Macchiarini – former star surgeon and professor at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute – was dismissed from his post following a high-profile investigation prompted by a documentary broadcast on Swedish national television. Macchiarini was found guilty of failing to secure ethical approval for experimental transplant techniques and misrepresenting data in journal publications. The […] … learn more→

ITT and Corinthian: Ending the scams

ITT and Corinthian: Ending the scams

After trying to fight the government, ITT tech has been forced to shut its doors. This is the second big for-profit school to be effectively shut down by the government recently. There’s much wailing about all the students displaced, all the people put out of work by this…but there’s more to the story than just […] … learn more→

Axing A-level art history only amplifies class divides

Axing A-level art history only amplifies class divides

Posh, soft, elite, decorative on the one hand, unreadably intellectual, dry and obscure on the other. Either too soft or too tough. So let’s cheer as the last chance for it to be studied at A-level gets binned. That’s art history for you, according to the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones, venting his class spleen against the […] … learn more→

You might open the door – but what will it mean to step through it?

You might open the door – but what will it mean to step through it?

Gaining access to organisations to carry out research is often a lengthy and challenging process that can be waylaid by internal politics. But the problems and ethical dilemmas involved in gaining access are subjects only rarely addressed in research accounts. Neither do we talk openly about the fact that getting access, and more importantly, maintaining […] … learn more→

7 Highest paid at UC Berkeley: all coaches

7 Highest paid at UC Berkeley: all coaches

It’s been a while since I’ve pointed out higher education’s peculiar madness when it comes to sportsball. There is so much corruption in higher education that I try to focus a little, but a recent article so brutally emphasized that something is wrong here that I feel the need to come back to this. Yes, […] … learn more→