Opinion

Demands that scholars like David Starkey not speak outside their subject threaten intellectual freedom, Frank Furedi says

We need a way to archive the web for the future while ensuring that people are not lost in 'data shadows' or digital doppelgängers

Northern Ireland - and the rest of the UK - has a lot riding on tough decisions over how to pay for higher education, says Tony Gallagher

Even recalcitrant scholars can’t escape the mobile’s reach, says Sally Feldman

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Degree ceremonies have become shameless branding exercises in which graduates are mere afterthoughts, laments Susan Bassnett

Academics should back a case-study approach to impact in the REF or risk getting far worse, says Claire Donovan

We need role models that encourage girls to study science, says Athene Donald

Dennis Tourish passes judgement on a system that invariably fails to give a clear picture of how well people are doing their jobs

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

It takes more than 140 characters to raise a mob, says Kevin Fong

When it comes to Murdoch's involvement in our universities, the most fundamental question raised is not about individual donors: it's about the place of private wealth in the UK sector, says Deborah Cameron

David Starkey's comment that Jamaican patois drove last week's riots reveal a shockingly profound ignorance, argues Geoffrey K. Pullum

Mark Burnley is baffled by the decision not to tell academics how their work has been scored. How will improvement ever be possible?

Is the Times Higher Education ‘exam howlers’ competition a bit of harmless fun, or unfair and offensive? Katie Alcock believes the joke is on teachers as well as their students and no one is any the worse for it, but Alice Bell finds little to smile about

Cutting-edge researchers aren’t necessarily the best teachers, argues Alan Ryan

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Richard J. Evans weighs a High Court judgment that awarded an academic £65,000 in damages for negative coverage of her work

Technology is, of course, an aid to education, says Frank Webster, but we must teach students how to evaluate and filter information

In the scrum for AABs, elite institutions risk putting themselves beyond the reach of disadvantaged students

Education’s true aims comprise a very short list, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

The EPSRC's funding shift from investigator-driven work to application-driven R&D is misguided, says Philip Moriarty

Citations and impact factors are old hat, says Matthew Gamble; the Web 2.0 generation needs metrics to match today’s scholarship

Universities cannot be truly competitive unless they can set pay locally. Like it or not, national bargaining is a dead duck

We must listen to the Continent’s sounds and sweet airs, says Malcolm Gillies

The AAB plans could limit choice, narrow participation and damage the UK's reputation, Christopher Snowden argues

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Criticism of graduate nursing is an evidence-free zone, Roger Watson argues: mastering the job requires academic ability as well as skill

A loud voice alone is not enough to merit a hearing, says Steven Schwartz

Partnerships between public and private institutions are key to weathering these uncertain times, says James Kirkbride

The regulatory regime outlined in the White Paper may lighten the bureaucratic burden but it has its dangers, warns Roger King

The Australian 'education revolution' is making progress, although there are still challenges to be overcome, writes Peter Coaldrake

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Simon Marginson on an Australian seminar that considered the local implications of the 'English experiment' with humanities funding

Higher fees will lead to greater student indebtedness, so we need new ways to 'sell' this fact, argues Kathryn Jones

What can a Dutch traffic experiment show us about higher education teaching standards? Rather a lot, Gary Thomas and Nick Peim insist

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Sally Feldman hails the e-book’s rise - but many won’t abandon the paper trail

The government's access proposals are contradictory and timid - they should be bolder, declares Graeme Atherton

We should not be so dismissive of back-office staff, for not only are they vital to the academy, they are human, Paul Greatrix says

With its brittle certainty, uncertainty and risky punts, the White Paper will win few hearts, especially among students, says Sir David Watson

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Graduate-entry medicine should be spared the fees fallout, argues Kevin Fong

Don't be put off by the Commission on a Bill of Rights, say Colin Harvey and Colm O'Cinneide - we must engage with it

The White Paper lacks vision: the coalition's short-termism must give way to long-term thinking, Libby Hackett says

Mike Boxall and Paul Woodgates consider the attitudes to the new academic order revealed by PA Consulting's latest v-c survey

The government's proposals promise radicalism. But, born of compromise and fudge, they betray a disturbing lack of vision

Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Alan Ryan considers whether traditional university education has run its race

The sector doesn't need a Byzantine White Paper, says Aldwyn Cooper: it needs clear criteria, empowered universities and greater diversity