China to target bribery culture
The Chinese Government is expected to announce harsh penalties for faculty who take bribes to admit prospective students after a scandal earlier this summer revealed a culture of corruption. The...
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A healthy society needs maggots in the cheese
Universities must ensure that students reflect on the social impact of their actions, argues Richard Hoggart In the past 30 years or so, many British universities have changed character. They have...
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Not-so-hunted hunts the hunter
One way of finding out which senior academics are approaching the big time - at least in political terms - is to check the address book on their Palm Pilot to see how many of the big headhunting...
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Challenge to appease Paxman
If you can't hold your breath until Jeremy Paxman announces the winners of the latest series of BBC quiz University Challenge next spring, fear not. The Oxford Student , Oxford University's student...
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Minister has p's and q's watched
Apparently, Alan Johnson, the former Higher Education Minister who landed the job of Work and Pensions Secretary in the recent reshuffle, looks back fondly on his days at the Department for Education...
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See the irony? That'll be the Day
The Guardian is, of course, a serious paper, but perhaps it needs to work on its appreciation of irony. Irreverent Times Higher columnist Gary Day was more than a little surprised to find himself...
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My revolting past
Once he'd got to grips with the lingo, political theorist Norman Geras got stuck into philosophy and poker at Oxford in the Sixties Nowadays Norman Geras, emeritus professor of politics at Manchester...
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Why I... laugh
I am buried in academic paperwork. As Americans throw money at problems, I asked my head of department for part-time secretarial help. I even offered to fund it out of my salary. But I was told that...
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God's just too small
Religion has no more claim to true spirituality than science, says Richard Dawkins Alister McGrath's book Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes and the Meaning of Life does a fair and sophisticated job of...
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A truly postmodern shafting
Restructuring can hold unpleasant surprises. Get a lawyer fast, says Valerie Atkinson If someone were to compile a list of the rituals and routines observed by staff in their first half hour at work...
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Ditch the smocks - dress to impress
Susan Bassnett offers some sartorial advice to superior academic scruffs. Sitting in an august body of academics recently, the woman chairing the event caught my attention. For not only was she...
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Get ready to show your hand
Any idea how much your vice-chancellor spent redecorating their office? Such questions could crop up under the imminent Freedom of Information Act, warns Harriet Swain. Now where did you put that...
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My worst nightmare
Teaching in Australia, I asked for comments on Absolon's reaction when he unwittingly kisses Alisoun's "nether ye" in The Miller's Tale . I was surprised when a woman asked why it said he felt...
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Best practoce: Have an answer for everything
Are you overburdened by endless questions about accommodation costs and student time-tables? At least two British universities - the University of Central Lancashire and Robert Gordon University -...
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Teacher audit
Name : Paul Freathy Age : 42 Job : Professor of retail management and director of the Institute for Retail Studies at Stirling University. Salary : A pittance given my skills, charm and boyish good...