In response to the novel coronavirus, many South Korean universities have moved their teaching online. Students are still provided with the required number of class hours but without face-to-face contact with teachers. The ministry of education in the UAE has announced that university teaching will move online. In Italy, the government has ordered the closure of all universities until March […] … learn more→

For the past two years, Melbourne’s Victoria University has been delivering its bachelor degrees using a block model, where students study one unit at a time rather than four units at once. Each unit, or block, is four weeks long and the study year is broken into ten blocks – four in each semester and optional […] … learn more→

If you work at a UK university, your department will currently be using some form of internal review to identify which of your recent papers should be submitted to the research excellence framework later this year. Unlike some, I don’t have any visceral objection to the REF. Good performance measures generate incentives that motivate staff […] … learn more→

The idea that universities should look outwards, and locally, is a key component of the modern university. But one that is often downplayed or even ignored. The Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto contained a rather surprising but welcome reference to the link between universities and the prosperity of local towns and communities. It said “we will work […] … learn more→

“Educate in equality so you don’t miss a single talent due to lack of opportunities.” Josefina Aldecoa, Story of a Teacher, (1990). Every March 8 we commemorate the International Women’s Day declared by the UN in 1975. That important day for feminism has not only become a memory for textile workers who demonstrated in New […] … learn more→

Irina Dumitrescu’s November 2019 article in Times Higher Education “Ten rules for succeeding in academia through upward toxicity” highlights an important issue that all university administrators should be more aware of: an environment where some psychopaths flourish. She was correct to say that “universities sing the song of meritocracy but dance to a different tune. […] … learn more→

Those people who said cruel things in the press and on social media about the British reality TV host Caroline Flack, who killed herself last month, probably thought she was too famous and successful to be hurt by anything they could say. But while it is impossible for outsiders to say what prompted this desperate […] … learn more→

For much of the 2019-2020 academic year, Syracuse University has been besieged by student protests over how the school handled of a series of racist incidents on campus. In the latest protest, Syracuse student activists have occupied the campus administration building since Feb. 17. Using the hashtag #NotAgainSU, they are calling for action in the wake of racist, anti-Semitic and bias-related […] … learn more→

The use of the word “I” in academic writing, that is writing in the first person, has a troublesome history. Some say it makes writing too subjective, others that it’s essential for accuracy. This is reflected in how students, particularly in secondary schools, are trained to write. Teachers I work with are often surprised that I […] … learn more→

It would seem as if the Trump era has been especially bad for the humanities. Sure, in the years before 2016 there was constant worry about “the crisis in the humanities”, with the disciplines’ supposed descent into jargon, specialisation and obscurity. Undergraduate enrolments fell. Literature and language departments closed. Even President Obama, a former law […] … learn more→