After a year before the Covid-19, we have transformed our behaviors in communication and education through telepresence. Immediate information and ubiquitous communication also transcend language, which is still alive, generating neologisms that appear in the press and in the daily use of its speakers. If we asked ourselves what communication is today, we would probably answer: global, digital. And we would […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
‘Zumping’ or how neologisms in English help to learn the language
The return of in-person exams will be a relief – including to invigilators
The UK government’s announcement that all universities in England can resume in-person teaching from today will give a welcome boost not only to students but also to exam invigilators like me. Online exams were the only sensible option during the height of the pandemic – although it took some university departments quite a while to […] … learn more→
The thesis discussion – making the move work
This post comes back again at the discussion “chapter”. It seems you can never say too much about this tricky bit of the thesis. A caveat before I start. This post is written from a social science perspective and offers a fairly orthodox view of what a thesis has to do. I think it has […] … learn more→
Universities need a better menu of defences against cyber-vultures
Creating a learn-at-home experience in just a few weeks last year was an incredible achievement for universities. But this rapid shift created a problem: cyber-criminals have been gifted the perfect opportunity to target them. The University of Northampton’s recent experience shows how much damage these attacks can cause: its IT services – including email and […] … learn more→
Female leaders, throw those ‘boys’ undermining you a curveball
Most university senior women I know have had “the style” conversation at least once in their career. It goes something like this. The line manager of the female staff member asks for a meeting, or raises the matter during a performance-review meeting. There has been “feedback” about her, and it’s not positive, unfortunately. There is […] … learn more→
Back to the Future of Mathematics: If Hypatia raised her head
The mathematical Hypatia of Alexandria climbs into a DeLorian DMC-12 well loaded with plutonium. Enter the date of October 21, 2015. It accelerates to 88 miles per hour and… it appears 1,600 years later. If Marty McFly, the protagonist of Back to the Future II , finds notable differences in a journey of barely 30 years, Hypatia finds his journey shocking. […] … learn more→
Other professions don’t tolerate public rudeness. Why do academics?
A few years ago, when conferences were still public events, I was midway through giving a paper when someone shouted out “You’re wrong!” – but offered no further elaboration. When I tell this tale to non-academic friends, they are typically horrified. Such public rudeness would not be tolerated in their workplaces, they say. Yet some […] … learn more→
How China has been transforming international education to become a leading host of students
When Australians think of international education and China, they typically consider the country as a source of international students — Australia’s largest. But China is now one of the leading host countries of international students in the world. China’s level of international education policymaking over the past decade, backed up by strategic priorities, has been unprecedented. My recently published research shows Chinese […] … learn more→
I spent a year and a half at a ‘no-excuses’ charter school – this is what I saw
Charter schools are 30 years old as of 2021, and the contentious debate about their merits and place in American society continues. To better understand what happens at charter schools – and as a sociologist who focuses on education – I spent a year and a half at a particular type of urban charter school that takes a “no-excuses” approach toward education. My […] … learn more→
These gestures that matter for language learning
You have certainly happened to chat with someone in a language you do not understand well. In this kind of situation, one of the reflexes to better understand what is being said is to base oneself on the gestures or facial expressions of the other person. Perhaps he will even have made the effort to underline or […] … learn more→
