Columnists

Close and unobtrusive observations can reveal more to the open-minded researcher than focus groups and surveys, says Tara Brabazon

Duncan Wu takes a British view of Obama Day

Sally Feldman urges partnerships with both Israel's and Palestine's academies

Technology can facilitate scholarship, particularly when it is intuitive and user-friendly, argues Tara Brabazon

An overseas applicant’s woefully illiterate proposal on the feminine wiles of Olivia Cromwell nearly leads to civil war in the department. Gloria Monday rallies her fellow academics.

The passing of American singer, guitarist, songwriter and civil-rights activist Odetta reminds us of the power of music and the relevance of history, says Tara Brabazon

Insults toasting on an open flame test Kevin Fong's post-Christmas spirit

Alan Ryan declares "Bah, Humbug!" to resolutions for university funding

Managers have gone to work on the RAE figures, and now Gloria Monday does not know if her university has gone up, down or nowhere at all. But she knows she’s unlikely to be any better off

The standard critical and academic response to the film Australia from the likes of Germaine Greer miss the point about the artificiality of cinema and the use of sentiment as style, argues Tara Brabazon

Tara Brabazon argues that popularising serious ideas enlightens no one

Journals want 'no ifs and buts' research, but Tim Birkhead wants honesty

Gloria Monday wonders about the dean’s motives in choosing the evening of the RAE results day for his annual Christmas party

At a time when writing on technology and the future is banal, Tara Brabazon discovers a new source of trenchant critical commentary

Felipe Fernández-Armesto takes a farewell look from Tufts' hilltop campus

Tara Brabazon on John Sergeant and Kristina Rihanoff’s thrilling subversion of the controlling, conservative dark side of light entertainment

An academic is calling for all dons with permanent posts to get the title. Melanie Newman reports

Sally Feldman lauds the daredevils who inspire students to defy and test limits

A publicly supported national university would benefit all students, says Brian Roper, rather than just the best prepared

Tara Brabazon on the rise of the soundbite over analysis

As deputy head of department, Gloria Monday finds herself in the unenviable position of looking for ways to cut costs

Kevin Fong seeks a middle ground between affirmative action and passivity

Alan Ryan muses on the London Met chief's views on state funding for Oxbridge

Natural selection is too hard for educators - not the kids, says Tim Birkhead

In his latest TV series, Jamie Oliver adopts a ministerial cloak while undermining governmental efforts and mechanisms to effect social change, argues Tara Brabazon

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on Teach for America's force for educational good

Tara Brabazon offers her students funky furniture and an opportunity to find out what their international peers are up to

Sally Feldman says the responsibility for financing disabled students is unclear

When a whiny colleague approaches Gloria for a favour, she braces herself for extra work. Instead, she gets a surprise promotion

The meetings called all too frequently by administrators are all too often unnecessary, and all too often hellish, says Tara Brabazon

Eschewing the City for the academy offers us scant protection, says Kevin Fong

The click-and-copy culture of “fast capitalism” breeds credulity. Tara Brabazon on educators’ duty to unsettle, probe and offer alternatives

Alan Ryan wishes John Denham would build bridges instead of picking fights

It’s time men recognised the powerful relationships and allegiances between administrative and academic women and how much academe depends on their contributions

Gloria Monday has to negotiate her way past the crowds of parents on campus for a meeting that can only mean more work

When it comes to grants, Tim Birkhead knows just how Kevin the Teenager feels

Tara Brabazon on competing visions of ownership, content and scholarship

A black president would mean most abroad, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Tara Brabazon ponders a future bereft of the custodians of knowledge. Science fiction – or the all-too-probable result of the devaluation of librarians?

Sally Feldman has spotted a new breed of troublemaker appearing on campus

Monographs, conferences and keynotes are vital elements of the modern scholarly world, but they are by no means the only, let alone the best, ways to spread ideas and insights. As Tara Brabazon notes, teaching can be a powerful, and inspiring, method of disseminating findings

Kevin Fong says the experiments at Cern represent science at its finest

In an era of media-manipulated ‘reality’, Tara Brabazon is inspired by helping students learn to use oral history techniques to capture genuinely authentic voices

Treat your staff to lashings of 1940s-style good sense and you jolly well won't go far wrong, advises Blyton devotee Sally Feldman

Alan Ryan says growing disparity in graduate premiums doesn't bode well for HEIs

After two weeks on holiday, with time to think, Gloria Monday considers whether she should leave the exhausting world of academia take the less-regimented option of life in the military

The PowerPoint presentation is redefining public speaking. Tara Brabazon argues that it is an unnecessary evil

Tim Birkhead dispels the myth that lecturers spend three months on the beach

Textbooks have been neglected in favour of other media, but Tara Brabazon argues the case for their importance

Felipe Fernández-Armesto says we must choose our commemorations wisely

The spark of connection between lecturers and students cannot be duplicated, although digitisation has its place in preserving special, life-changing lectures

Sally Feldman on the deals, desperation and bottom-line realities of clearing

Stop decrying the signal-to-noise ratio in online scholarly resources, says Tara Brabazon, and give open-source web journals your full support

Kevin Fong's clash with the beautiful game leaves him sick as a parrot

Country music is ethnography with a banjo, and Tara Brabazon discovers that it is as relevant to university life and Friday-night Eastbourne as it is to Appalachia

Alan Ryan wishes Oxford's big donors would share their financial expertise