Leader: Schoolyard rules in the Commons
If standards are vital, why is the select committee investigating dumbing down marked by spin, absenteeism and squabbling?
Search
-
-
From where I sit - Low country, low standards
The Dutch university calls itself a "centre of excellence", using buzzwords such as "quality", "creativity" and "innovation".The facts belie the propaganda. The university's budget is based on...
-
George Holmes, 1927-2009
George Holmes, a leading historian of medieval and Renaissance Europe, has died.
-
Removing the heads won't stem the rot
Universities - bastions of truth - should be speaking out and challenging the practices that are contributing to the moral bankruptcy of our society. Their role should be one of critics of society...
-
Old fellows still functional
Ageism would be the exclusion of people from election to the British Academy after a certain age ("Out-of-touch academy is unfit for grant role, says former fellow", 16 April). In fields such as...
-
Not radical or rational 1
John Milbank is quoted as saying that "by supporting the total disjuncture of sex and procreation, the Left is really supporting a new mode of fascism" ("Lazarus-style comeback", 16 April).Two things...
-
Not radical or rational 2
Radical orthodoxy is more Dracula than Lazarus. It's reactionary romanticism in fancy dress: the undead dolled up with postmodern tosh. Your profile included John Milbank's inane remarks about social...
-
Not all impact is financial 1
The story "V-c casts doubt on humanities funding" (16 April) reports on University of Exeter vice-chancellor Steve Smith's criticism of researchers in the humanities and social sciences for their...
-
Not all impact is financial 2
It is a great pity, but hardly surprising, to see the leader-elect of university leaders publicly subscribing to the continued prostitution of the academy. Steve Smith continues, too, that other...
-
Roots need firmer footing
Andrew Chanerley commits a logical error that underlines the reason why a "return to Christian roots" (Letters, 9 April) would be an outrageous and completely unacceptable academic development in...
-
State should not call shots
I wonder whether Geoffrey Alderman (Letters, 16 April) missed my point. What I fear is the accreditation of courses by the state using academics as its instruments. That is what you get in many parts...
-
A view too far
I often have the feeling that Laurie Taylor writes most of your opinion pieces, but Alan Ryan's attempt to write an entire article on Oxbridge governance (Opinion, 16 April) while pretending that the...
-
Canonical texts: are these the most influential books ever written?
Are you obsessed with a 'baggy monster' or has a photocopied pamphlet sparked your passion for a whole new area of research? To kick off our new weekly series, leading scholars explain which books...
-
23 April 2009
The canon - The most influential books ever written?
-
Tara Brabazon: I’m not going to be your monkey
Satirical news programme The Daily Show does more than poke fun at the powers that be. It condemns lazy and populist broadcasting, and urges us to question what we are told and what we choose to...