Those statues and portraits that embellish our high seats of learning – enjoy them while you can. As Sir Francis Galton, one of the greatest polymaths in British history, is recast by some University College Londonactivists as the inventor of racism, we must ask: is any famous figure safe from the campus commissars of moral […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
‘Father of eugenics’ should not be erased from academic history
Penn State and Pizzagate: A familiar silence
My recent revisit of Penn State, where over a decade of whispers about what was going on in the showers there was systematically silenced, led me to consider the most striking parallel with the current big whispering campaign, called Pizzagate. Now, before I go any further I’ll state that, looking at all the evidence, if […] … learn more→
(Your) Penn State scandal cost at $237 million
So Sandusky’s son has been arrested on pedophilia charges. It’s curious how easy it is to get into these situations with underage girls…but you think this guy of all people would eschew just things. In addition, we should probably consider there’s an infrastructure here–how exactly does he find underage girls to do this to? The […] … learn more→
Research that languishes in journals represents an opportunity lost
Publications matter. And not just journal papers. For research aimed at improving people’s health by changing how international health services are delivered, other publications such as operational guidelines for managers, practice guides for doctors, and materials for the public that explain diseases, treatments or lifestyle changes in simple language, are just as important. These are the […] … learn more→
How robots could help chronically ill kids attend school
Over the past century, American schools have integrated an ever-more-diverse group of students. Racial integration is most prominent, but it’s not just Native Americans, blacks and Latinos who have been brought into public education. Schools today serve children with conditions on the autism spectrum, Down syndrome and many other medical issues. But there is one […] … learn more→
“Design thinking” can prepare graduates for the real working world
At first glance, it looks as though the group of young adults is building Lego. But these are actually students at the University of Cape Town’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design Thinking, and they’re using the colourful blocks to design a prototype. It represents policy reform ideas around transitioning from informal to formal economies. It’s […] … learn more→
Education behind bars: why university students are learning alongside prisoners
With reports of increasing violence and drug use, along with high levels of suicide and a lack of staff, prisons in the UK are currently seen to be in a state of crisis. In recent years, the condition of British prisons has come under political, academic and public scrutiny. But what a lot of people […] … learn more→
Will higher education in the 21st century belong to China?
Times Higher Education recently announced in its BRICS and Emerging Economics University Rankings 2017 that India has increased its share of top universities, but China still has the highest density of leading universities in the developing world. In the BRICS rankings, Chinese universities occupy six of the top 10 positions. There is a growing trend for […] … learn more→
Is the advice you get about your PhD wrong?
There is no shortage of voices telling PhD students what they absolutely must do (or not do) to complete their theses and secure jobs afterwards. My experience is that some of the advice thrown at PhD students is inaccurate at best and actively harmful at worst. I ignored a lot of it. Nevertheless, I submitted […] … learn more→
Universities around the world should share notes as they face the same challenges
In 2016 I had the privilege of visiting four leading universities abroad. At KU Leuven in Belgium, Oxford in the UK and two US institutions – Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley – I was exposed to new ideas and learned about novel approaches to higher education. It was both interesting and reassuring to […] … learn more→
