Professor

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Bill Niven examines a project that attempted to preserve Teutonic traditions in the wake of defeat

Zoë Waxman praises a study that debunks the comforting post-war myth of the resisting majority in countries such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands

Ugly, hateful talk must be countered with debate and argument, not bans, says Joanna Williams

A forensic linguist’s compelling and sometimes chilling case files demonstrate how criminals’ punctuation can be their undoing

Book of the week: Premiers often have a tenuous hold on power in Cabinet governments, finds Vernon Bogdanor

The Dutch anthropologist discusses growing up in the sectarian Netherlands, following the hippie trail and whether religious tolerance has a future

Laurie Taylor’s campus creation was loved because it mirrored academics’ own experiences. Although it’s closed, it will live on

Lecture capture has not taken off. Is it time to call in the thespians, asks Michael Marinetto

Tributes paid to one of the world’s leading experts on pesticides

Growing pressure to publish only in elite tier ignores the vital importance of lesser-ranked titles to academia and society, says Adam Graycar

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Error on Wikipedia page meant St Petersburg statue used likeness of Thomas Thomson instead of French architect

Using tropes already common in the US and the UK, the Alternative for Germany has accused institutions of being in thrall to the far left

Analysis concludes universities are ‘moving towards a nearly exclusive monopoly’ over research articles

As Elsevier buys another academic workflow company, some worry about potential for publishers to ‘lock in’ scholars to their services

The UK’s highly internationalised university system – a major factor in its research success – is a treasure that must be saved from a political altar

Dahl before Dostoevsky? Harry Potter before Proust? It’s time to acknowledge the texts that really constitute the modern literary canon, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto 

After a visit to Hungary, Matthew Reisz reflects on how academics can resist simplistic, government-promoted versions of history 

Tributes paid to a leading African expert on heart disease

Nearly 50 years since war on cancer was declared, declarations of victory remain a distant prospect. Here, six cancer researchers assess the lie of the land

The lecturer in sociology and policy at Aston University discusses what led her to writing about Russia and its elites

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Matthew Reisz meets Andrea Pető, recent recipient of the Madame de Staël prize, a scholar at Hungary’s Central European University whose feminist probing into the dark corners of Hungary’s past is provoking strong reactions in the ‘illiberal democracy’

Robert J. Mayhew ponders whether many careless generations have led us into a new geological era

Once he had conquered one intellectual peak, this Irishman simply found another, says Richard Joyner

Book of the week: A ‘thought biography’ reveals elements that make for success in science, Rivka Isaacson finds

German students – and academics – still go along with controversial mainstream theories in order to get ahead, researcher argues

New president of German Rectors’ Conference thinks it is crucial that all students know the European canon

European Research Council says move is to support open access and get round often lengthy publishing process

Guilt grew as green spaces became pleasurable more than productive places, says Lisa Hopkins

Book of the week: Not trusting fellow citizens to vote erodes the foundation of polity, writes John Shand

Scholars broadly welcome new government’s pledges but say sector reform will be challenging

An original book about the changes to arts and technology reaches a disappointing conclusion, finds Scott Mandelbrote

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

University managers can learn from Geraint Thomas’ example that success can be won without having to be domineering and overbearing

Senior management has its perks but it also comes with a host of new practical, philosophical, psychological and even physical challenges. Here, seven people who have lived through that fiery baptism tell their tales

A Stoic history; influencers and other stars of the web; an English revolutionary; and chapter and verse on the books-artist nexus

Academic Jack Davis tells John Morgan of his surprise at learning that his history of the Gulf of Mexico had won a Pulitzer prize and his hope that it will help to deliver a pro-environmental message

He may once have disdained older scholars, but, having reached seniority in a managerialist age, John Brinnamoor now values their ability to say what others can’t

The differences between Jesus and philosophers cannot be ignored, writes Robert Segal

Experts say institutions must improve global experience in classroom as figures show domestic students are concerned about impact of overseas peers

Leading disability scholar reflects on progress of discipline and key obstacles ahead

Outside the anglophone world, universities are under pressure to conduct research in English – but teach in their local language, says David Matthews

Book of the week: Dream homes, women on the edge, murder – we’ve been here before, says Sharon Wheeler

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Philip Moriarty explains quantum mechanics with heavy metal music in

Precarity is a significant feature of the academy worldwide, creating a feeling of ‘academic apartheid’ as it grows. Ellie Bothwell explores its impact

Lincoln Allison was inspired to teach by academics who loved what they did and communicated this to students. But has all passion for teaching been eliminated by creeping assessment and instrumentalism?

People of many countries and ethnic backgrounds boosted the war effort, learns Panikos Panayi

Sharif Mowlabocus reflects on how politics took a back seat as LGBTQ organisations advanced

Fees and fairness are at stake in UK HE’s global search for students, learns Aniko Horvath

Scotland’s first black professor talks about life as an immigrant, his experiences of racism and why ‘better science makes better’

Tributes paid to tuberculosis expert who worked on the first randomised controlled clinical trial

The professor of English at the University of Minnesota talks about her love of mystery and adventure and how this translates to writing about past lives

Partisan social media posts typically get more attention, but dispassionate analyses are what academics are valued for, says Stuart Brown 

Lawyer says Spanish warrant means that economics professor remains an ‘exile’

Leading critic of marketised higher education takes aim at external appointment of vice-chancellors and the ‘student experience’

Educators accusing students of not working hard enough is simply a shirking of their responsibility to actually meet learners’ needs, says Katherine Gould

The accounting magic the UK government performs to handle outstanding student loans has once again been questioned, but the timing couldn’t be worse for universities, says Andy Westwood