University rankings can be highly influential. They can help prospective students to narrow down their choice of institution and, of course, they also give universities something to brag about. The UK’s elite institutions, Oxford and Cambridge, continue to occupy the top two posts in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings And many other UK universities […] … learn more→
University rankings: how do they compare and what do they mean for students?
Trusting states to do right by special education students is a mistake
On Sept. 20, the U.S. Department of Education released a new framework to “rethink” how the department oversees special education services for students with disabilities. As part of this framework, the department plans to provide states with “flexibility” and to “acknowledge” that states are “in the best position to determine implementation of their programs.” This flexibility relates […] … learn more→
To decolonise the university is to democratise the university
The backlash against the University of Manchester students who recently overwrote a mural of Kipling’s If, once voted the UK’s favourite poem, with the civil rights activist Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise was predictably fierce. “Liberal fascism” and “outrageous cultural vandalism” were some of the more pointed attacks on this latest incarnation of the drive […] … learn more→
Rough and ready: the fast and lean route to a PhD
My friend Tim’s PhD had been four years in the making when he finally dropped out. His decision followed a meeting with his supervisor: the culmination of almost six months of work preparing a further draft chapter of his thesis. Only at this point did he learn that his supervisor did not approve of the […] … learn more→
Work smarter, finish faster: winning strategies for completing a PhD
Decades ago, we sat in the library as graduate students, staring at shelves of books and thinking: “If only we understood all the knowledge sitting on just one shelf, what power that would be.” Today, we try to convince ourselves that such daydreaming was not naive. Of course, there are people who love to learn, […] … learn more→
Gay Professor officially didn’t harass gay student in sexual e-mails. It was “code”!
While the Leftist takeover of many of our campuses is disconcerting, there is, sort of, a ray of hope here: this ideology is not merely destructive, it ultimately is self-destructive, as much so for campuses as it was for countries. Part of the reason this ideology is so destructive is you can’t really defend against […] … learn more→
Why do teenagers not like to read?
I read San Manuel Bueno, martyr (Miguel de Unamuno, 1931) for the first time when I was fourteen years old. In my list of compulsory books of 2nd of ESO, Unamuno’s reading was after Marianela (Benito Pérez Galdós, 1878) and before La familia de Pascual Duarte (Camilo José Cela, 1942). On the day of the exam, the teacher asked us about the plot […] … learn more→
Can we really learn a foreign language with an app?
Pursued on all download platforms in the world, applications dedicated to the study of foreign languages are expected to revolutionize language learning. They allow you to train on grammar points and can be a very rewarding way to enrich your vocabulary. But their effectiveness is debated, especially with regard to skills such as written or oral expression. […] … learn more→
Forget university rankings, open days are the biggest factor in student choice
The latest Times Higher University Rankings have been published. And the 2019 results reveal that the University of Oxford is the top ranking university – both in the UK and the world. According to the rankings, which position more than 1,200 institutions worldwide, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and University College […] … learn more→
Dealing with administrative grief
One of the most difficult things I’ve had to deal with whilst working on my PhD is managing the expectations of my university. In the end, I realised we were working towards two different goals. While we both wanted me to complete the PhD, our relationship was more complicated than that. My Graduate School and […] … learn more→