Academics able to link their expertise to world events can raise their personal and institutional profiles to previously unimaginable levels, says Russell Reader
At 1967’s Congress on the Dialectics of Liberation, radicals preached Black Power, existential psychiatry, free universities and more. Martin Levy reports on an event that was as much a happening as an academic conference
Providing support for learners on low-cost ‘flat-pack degrees’ is key to expanding international higher education in Australia and worldwide, says Merlin Crossley
Bernard Leeman, anti-apartheid fighter and peripatetic champion of low-cost rural tertiary education, describes the circuitous route he took to Vanuatu
Working 55 hours per week, the loss of research periods, slashed pensions, increased bureaucracy, tiny budgets and declining standards have finally forced Michael Edwards out
Scholars and senior sector figures reveal the books they’ll be reading over the summer break – for work or pleasure or both – in part two of our annual round-up of holiday reads
Early career academics can be left to sink or swim when navigating the choppy waters of learning scholarly writing. Helen Sword says a more formal, communal approach can help everyone, especially women
Scholars are ignorant of many aspects of peer review, and part of the problem is that researching it is a bit like kicking the hornet’s nest, says Martin Eve
Conditions that undermine the notion of scholarly vocation – relentless work, ubiquitous bureaucracy – can cause academics acute distress and spur them to quit, says Ruth Barcan
From steely-eyed sadists to licky Labradors, ingénue academics should beware of the cast of kinky characters who flock to academic get-togethers, says Tara Brabazon
The sweatshop conditions in which sessional academics work in Australia mirror the treatment of schoolteachers in Victorian times, say Hannah Forsyth and Jedidiah Evans
Stephen Mumford tells Matthew Reisz about his desire to bring his discipline to a wider audience, why Norway was the perfect place to write his Cartesian debut novel and why insights into causation have more practical relevance than might first appear
Don't dismiss the meditation technique as a fad: its well documented benefits for those in demanding careers make a strong case for teaching it at university, says Craig Hassed
Some vice-chancellors will decry the results of the teaching excellence framework, but should recognise areas of poor teaching it exposes, says Edward Peck
Some MPs turned out of office might turn to academia for employment. But what do former political high-flyers bring to a university, and what are the potential downsides? Jack Grove reports
Are scholars really so out of touch with the real world or do we need to look again at this tired narrative that doesn’t reflect the reality of modern academia, asks James Georgalakis
