Opinion

James Nesbitt contrasts Thomas Hardy's vision of wasted potential with the academy's ability to nourish talent

Are vice-chancellors paid too much? An accurate response must first establish what we value as a society, argues Rudi Bogni

Unless baby-boomers are coaxed down from the top of the tree, new postdocs' careers will not get off the ground, argues Peter Geoghegan

Arthur Louis explains his post-retirement decision to retrain as a nurse, and says age hasn't hindered him a bit

As cuts bite, it would be easy for the sector to fragment. But, Keith Burnett argues, it must reject such pressures and work collectively to navigate the storm

Gavin Brown laments the disappearance of the basic programming languages, all but absent in the modern PC

There are some musical moments that make Gary Day forget class and everything else

As universities are being forced into the commercial world, academics shouldn't be shy of launching a charm offensive

Felipe Fernández-Armesto is unimpressed by some of the Windsor clan

Having spent years earning the right to teach undergraduates, Tara Brabazon knows very well that ‘experience’ is nothing like a degree

Universities overlook ways to make savings simply because they do not focus on institution-wide schemes, argues Microsoft’s Ray Fleming

Funding for science or arts? It shouldn't be either/or, argues Malcolm Gillies

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online

Gymnast Beth Tweddle found university helped her become a well-rounded person and taught her time management

Change to the USS scheme is urgently needed to address greater life expectancy and a £17 billion shortfall, says Nicola Dandridge

A workload allocation system can benefit everyone in a university, so long as it is transparent, trusted and equitable, argues Peter Barrett

Sally Hunt urges UK academics to join the campaign to free colleagues jailed in Colombia for their political views

The asylum was used to house inconvenient truths, says Gary Day, but some people do need its sanctuary

Universities' lack of new-media savvy can leave reputations exposed, but popularity was never wholly within their control

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill reads like a toxic 25th-anniversary homage to Don DeLillo’s postmodern novel, says Robert Zaretsky

Students, fees and cuts will dominate the Westminster soap opera's higher education plotlines. Anna Fazackerley offers an early review

Donald L. Drakeman on science's need to look to less measurable but possibly more meaningful disciplines for insights and guidance

If the academy is to survive, it needs domestic support to take the offensive internationally, argues Anthony Seldon

Gary Day looks into the psyche of the troubled detective Luther, a man trying to escape his past

David Willetts has the intellect to deal with his universities and science briefs. How that will feed into policy is as yet unknown

Tim Birkhead wonders if a critic would feel differently after a job swap

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Deportation danger

Before music became his life, a university writing course provided Liam Fray with creative stimulation and excitement

Bridging the chasm that separates universities from the environments that support them enriches and enlivens the educational experience, argues Tara Brabazon

By John Protevi for Inside Higher Ed

Herminio Martins offers a threefold plan to bring order to the 'structural irresponsibility' of academic book reviewing - so dangerous in the present climate

The decline of modern languages in the UK threatens our place in the European conversation, writes Anthony Bushell

Stuart Maconie found his voice at university and took his first (albeit faltering) steps towards music journalism

To help the new universities secretary, Steve Smith outlines the issues vital to the continued health of UK higher education

Gary Day looks through his periscope at submarine movies, in which John Mills often plays a leading role

Academics chafe at being forced into open-plan offices, often with good reason. Can their home-working solutions be supported?

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto on a public good that the UK would not accept

After a general election with no clear winner, the scientific method can build consensus and support stable government, argues Christopher Tyler

Directly funding further education colleges would allow them to take their rightful place in the academy, argues Philip Davies

Popular culture is dismissed as trash by some academics, but as Lady Gaga – ‘Baudrillard in a bra’ – shows, there’s plenty of intellectual value in the dustbin. Tara Brabazon digs in

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online

From water-pistol mayhem to dissertation immersion, says Konnie Huq, university offers exhilaration and self-discovery

The finest vice-chancellors may be found outside academia, argues David Allen. We should not limit the boundaries of the search

Obscenely priced books and journals, glacial timescales and limited formats are squeezing the life out of academic publishing, argues Keith Kahn-Harris

Producing the highest-quality MBAs is the unabashed aim of 'sausage factory' BPP. Katie Best is proud to see it deliver

Gary Day finds the omission of one victim's tale disturbing in the gritty realism of Five Daughters

Academics prize their freedom of enquiry, but where do we draw the line when lives are at stake, and how can we enforce it?

Funny how typing-pool notions persist in a Web 2.0 world, says Sally Feldman

The critique of independent schools’ advantages in university admissions has raised its head again, but the academy should not be in the business of compensating for state schools’ failures, argue Ted Tapper and Brian Salter

Being creative without commercial pressure is a privilege enjoyed only in higher education, says Zandra Rhodes

George Watson analyses a 'learned nonsense' while looking forward to doing his constitutional duty ... and saying what he wants

Brian Duffy photographed many faces of the 1960s. Gary Day watches him pick up the camera again