Features

A new term is beginning in the northern hemisphere, and many campuses are reopening. But are academics relishing a return to relative normality or fearful of unvaccinated students? And what has the Covid experience taught them about their approach to teaching? Six scholars offer their perspectives

 

16 September

Much of the language now used by universities feels like a kind of literary lockjaw that is too dull even to poke fun at. Joe Moran considers the causes and disastrous consequences

19 August

The pandemic has accelerated numerous experiments in assessment for the digital age, moving beyond simple knowledge recall. But is the traditional exam really obsolete? As the dust settles on another marking season, seven academics give their widely differing views

Artificial intelligence will soon be able to research and write essays as well as humans can. So will genuine education be swept away by a tidal wave of cheating – or is AI just another technical aid that teaching and assessment will evolve to take account of? John Ross reports

8 July

The pandemic has prompted dire predictions about international student enrolment at anglophone universities. But will those fears come to pass? Is there an alternative to standard international education? And how much do universities really spend on recruitment agents? Ellie Bothwell reports

Indian universities have seen numerous cases of discrimination against students from oppressed castes, sometimes even leading to suicide. With international student mobility only set to increase, this crucial diversity issue is unlikely to remain confined to the subcontinent, says Saikat Majumdar

7 January

The country’s universities have shot up global rankings on the back of huge investment and a ruthless focus on publication. But as the country gears up for its next five-year plan, Joyce Lau asks whether stratospheric ambitions for a ‘Chinese Harvard’ can be met

7 January

The combination of Brexit and the Covid pandemic has driven change throughout academia, even reaching the scholarly backwater that is the University of Rural England. But perhaps it doesn’t have to be that way, writes John Gilbey. Things could be better – or much, much worse…

24 December

The past 12 months will live long in the memory, for all the wrong reasons. But as 2020 nears its end amid fairy lights and optimism about vaccines, six academics tell us the bright spots they managed to find amid the gloom – from human connections to elasticated waistbands

22 December

Academics have long grappled with the strains that job scarcity and the mobility imperative impose on their families. But might the experience of mass remote working finally offer a viable solution, asks Jack Grove

10 December

The impact of the Black Lives Matter movement has raised urgent issues for universities about who should be taught what – and how. After 40 years of pushing to widen the range of voices taught on literature courses, Lyn Innes still sees much to be done that is crucial for students of all races

10 December

The movement to ‘decolonise’ university curricula has leaped into the political and educational mainstream in the wake of George Floyd’s death, dividing opinion on campus and beyond. Anna McKie examines how scholars are handling difficult discussions and where the agenda goes next

26 November

Neoliberal administrators’ policing of institutional reputations and academic colleagues’ condemnation of dissenting voices on issues such as race and gender have led to claims that scholars are losing their ability to engage in free enquiry and open debate. But is academic freedom really the operative concept in the controversies that arise? John Ross probes a highly contested debate

15 October

Those planning new universities might think that a good institution will attract top staff wherever it is located. But is the quality of the environment beyond the ivory tower really so insignificant – and has the pandemic changed the calculus? Paul Jump runs through our survey results

1 September

‘Every young student of science has had a fantasy about winning a Nobel prize,’ says one laureate – and ever more rival prizes are being established. But with a cast of thousands currently pursuing the holy grail of a vaccine for Covid-19, might awards committees finally jettison their problematic focus on lone genius, asks Jack Grove

6 August