In the week after President Trump’s executive order banning arrivals from the seven Muslim-majority countries, global audiences have watched heart-breaking scenes at US airports where thousands of people have been denied entry and turned back. Meanwhile, huge crowds across the world have demonstrated their support for Muslims, and public figures and institutions have condemned the […] … learn more→

I’ve been dipping in and out of a rather pleasurable book about writing. Most people read books about writing for utilitarian reasons – to find a new technique, to see something that might inform their own work, to seek explanations for particular conventions. And so on. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with these kinds of informative writing […] … learn more→

The recent events surrounding Donald Trump’s first few weeks in the White House have left many wondering how a political outsider can become president of the United States. Does Trump’s rapid rise to the presidency mark a change in how election campaigns will be conducted? Is it possible to have a president who does not […] … learn more→

If the academy is still “all talk and too many trousers”, are targets or even quotas the answer, asked Laurie Cohen and Jo Duberley in a recent Times Higher Education article. Increasingly, the conclusion being reached by large organisations across industries and other sectors is “yes” – if we actually want to make meaningful changes […] … learn more→

College employees are particularly vulnerable to e-mail scams. Our e-mail addresses are readily available, and regular hacks of the system mean the entire mailing list is at the disposal of your typical e-scammer. Our particular weakness (at the risk of exposing it) are phishing scams sent, falsely, from the Poo Bah. We know better than […] … learn more→

Have you heard that scientists are planning a march on Washington? The move is not being billed as a protest, but rather as a “celebration of our passion for science and a call to support and safeguard the scientific community,” although it comes as a direct response to recent policy changes and statements by the […] … learn more→

Two great failings of the American professoriate are timidity and self-righteousness. Casting about to orient myself in my new calling a decade or so ago, I found David Horowitz defining one extreme view of it and Michael Bérubé standing out on the other. Horowitz was pushing professors further into timidity and inaction (something that also […] … learn more→

In my final year of doctoral study, I realised I wanted to write a book about research methods. There are already so many books on the topic that I knew I would need to think of a good angle, which wasn’t easy; plus I was busy earning my living as an independent researcher. Then in […] … learn more→

S is for SPECULATE The word speculate has bad press. It is usually equated with guessing, making things up. Not good. However, to speculate can also mean to theorise, hypothesise, surmise, make a supposition. Speculation needs a bit of a helping hand IMHO. This is my attempt at recuperating it. Speculation in research doesn’t mean guessing […] … learn more→

If you think back to your childhood, what sticks with you? For many people, it’s those cosy times when they were cuddled up with a parent or grandparent, being read a story. But bedtime stories aren’t just lovely endings to the day or a way to induce sleep, they are also a safe way to […] … learn more→