Columnists

Malcolm Gillies discusses the reality of university reputation

Inept alumni communications derail the desire to give, says Tim Birkhead

Sally Feldman stands up for popular works of scholarship

The universities minister has ruined his relationship with the sector, Simon Szreter argues, and it will take more than speeches to fix it

Kevin Fong decides to not make a meal of a life-threatening situation

US undergraduates' lack of learning bodes ill for the UK, says Alan Ryan

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on the humanities' need for scientific insights

Higher education is still far from borderless, argues Malcolm Gillies

Students could vastly improve their assignments, and marks, if they followed a few important rules. Tara Brabazon offers a 20-point checklist

Tim Birkhead ponders the optimal size and location of the conference venue

...is cheer and courtesy, says Sally Feldman, and we could do with a little here

Demand-led funding and growing state regulation may leave the Australian system with the worst of all worlds, says Steven Schwartz

Now is a fertile time to be conducting research among the proliferating forms of social media, writes Tara Brabazon

Kevin Fong ponders the pleasures and pains of science broadcasting

Mike Cole and Sara C. Motta defend the record of post-Chávez Venezuela, a country that offers a vision of genuine participatory democracy in stark contrast to the West’s cynical politics

The coalition's consensus policies manage to benefit no one, says Alan Ryan

Visual media educators have a great choice of technological wizardry they can employ to enhance their teaching, writes Tara Brabazon

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on the real punchline of his diplomatic incident

After 18, the government becomes very confused about education, says David Colquhoun

As its progenitors mature, popular culture is rising to the challenges of facing the inevitability of ageing, writes Tara Brabazon

Scotland must stand against tuition fees and preserve universal state-supported access to higher education or risk a return to Dickensian darkness, argues Kate Smith

In cricket, as in other fields, choosing sides matters, writes Richard Bosworth

Felipe Fernández-Armesto's words of advice to unpopular or indecisive presidents and ministers who doubt their own policies

...and other quandaries to mull over. Malcolm Gillies takes the temperature

Tim Birkhead fears for the effect that higher fees will have on teaching

Managers may promote the use of technology in teaching purely with a view to saving money, but students want face-to-face interaction with inspirational teachers they can admire

Peter Hallward describes why he joined the demonstration on 9 December, and gives his personal account of how events unfolded that day

Sally Feldman fears the loss of EMAs will leave thousands without a future

The coalition must admit the downsides of its reforms, demands Kevin Fong

Librarians remain an often unseen and unappreciated element of good teaching and research. Tara Brabazon interviews an extraordinary one about the challenges the profession faces at the front line of scholarship in the 21st century

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Mission creep

With Browne's vision fading, Alan Ryan bemoans a lack of creative thinking

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: How to destroy another human being

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on a dazzling display of gridiron, greatness and God

Jerome de Groot’s Consuming History offers a forensic examination of modern culture’s sentimental, simplistic repackaging of the past. Tara Brabazon admires its corrective qualities

Ethnic minorities and the poor may be priced out of university. It will be a loss for them, for society and for academia, warns Nabil Ahmed

The Browne Review’s narrow economic approach will leave vital non-STEM subjects at the whim of fad and fashion and ultimately undermine the academy, argues Gerald Pillay

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Text offenders

Malcolm Gillies questions the maths behind the new student loan policy

@Lord_Browne gained a following by poking fun at UK higher education’s upheavals. Now silenced by Twitter, he tells Sarah Cunnane about real universities, the trouble with students and how many Russell Group v-cs it takes to change a light bulb

The Royal Society Prize for Science Books stimulates public interest and is too important to be allowed to disappear, says Maggie Philbin

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Pontius Pilate I am not...

In competitive times, it's hard to avoid hype in a prospectus, says Tim Birkhead

Harold Innis was a professor at the same institution for decades – but while he remained steadfastly local and empirical, he probed the expansive variables of space and time. Tara Brabazon reveres the Canadian historian and economist

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Worth the paper it's written on

Or how Sally Feldman's iPad went from cuddly kitty to proud panther

Peer review is being co-opted into the political process, says Sandy Starr, at the cost of impartiality and independence

The coalition’s qualified support for science recognises that universities are the ‘jewels’ in the UK’s economic crown, argues Paul Clark. But the huge cuts to non-STEM teaching require decisions to be made about Lord Browne’s plans – and quickly

Kevin Fong argues that cutting science funding will be bad for Britain

Across the academy, scholars must stand by their colleagues, especially those deemed ‘non-priority’, and assert the value of all subjects in enriching our lives, argues Keith Burnett

The CSR proposes shifting the burden of university spending from the state to the student. The academy must probe coalition weaknesses and stop the plans before it’s too late, argues Pam Tatlow

The CSR’s savagery is the latest chapter in a narrative first articulated by Labour: the neoliberal university. Andrew Blake writes

In a time of shrinking funding, librarians’ savvy use of time- and space-shifting podcasts can aid diverse groups of students and scholars and highlight valuable resources, argues Tara Brabazon

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Room 101 here we come

Insight and independent thinking are truly vocational skills, argues Alan Ryan

Alasdair Smith sees the Browne review as a golden opportunity to halt the academy’s distorted focus on research output

Alan Ryan proposes that there should be no cap on tuition fees, grants for the talented poor should return and universities should lose their safety net