Features

David Abulafia maps out the pleasures and pains of travelling, from odysseys off the beaten track to bumpy journeys and egg sandwiches that recall aviation's pioneering days

Biologist and clergyman Michael Reiss bears witness to his passionate belief in both religion and evolutionary science. Matthew Reisz reports

Reading seems a simple task. But Bob Blaisdell, a teacher of English and a voracious reader, knows just how tough it can be

In restoring oratory and rhetoric to a central role in public life, Barack Obama has shown how words and bearing can touch lives and change minds. Tom Palaima traces his lineage from Cato to Martin Luther King

Ministers regularly state their commitment to 'evidence-based' policy, but then seem to ignore academics. Rebecca Attwood asks if it is merely confusion over what constitutes evidence

Who stands up for science and scientific rigour in policy circles? Zoë Corbyn investigates

As UK universities with a Christian heritage seek to collaborate more closely, some academics are calling for more explicitly theologically inspired institutions. Hannah Fearn reports

Dwindling joie de vivre, receding hairlines and the sneaking suspicion that our PVIs are MIA: Paul Cornish makes an in-depth analysis of the midlife crisis and urges a robust action plan - on two wheels, in leathers, going vrooooooom

It's been a good year. In 2007-08, academic pay rose more rapidly than the national average. Vice-chancellors took home the big money, but thanks to the credit crunch, this year may be the high-water mark. Hannah Fearn reports

A bitter economic wind blew through the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference last month. David Gewanter saw it snap a few authors out of their usual self-obsession

The academy has long been a haven for obsessives, but now its emphasis on teamwork would ill suit socially inept geniuses such as Paul Dirac, writes Matthew Reisz

Evolutionary psychology applies the tenets of Darwinism to human thought and action, with major implications for public policy. But critics say it presents untestable, headline-grabbing myths as fact, writes Melanie Newman

The goat has symbolised lusty desires and Christ-like sacrifice for millennia, but for Helen Wilcox a stray mountain beast in her garden had a rich meaning of its own

Musing on the often acrimonious debate between atheists and believers, Simon Blackburn takes as his inspiration David Hume, who approached the issue not with hatred but with humour

Overworked, underpaid and insecure: adjunct and part-time US faculty are fighting to convince their institutions - and tenured colleagues - that they deserve better. Jon Marcus reports

Successive RAEs have concentrated research cash in the hands of the elite. This time around, the pie has been shared more widely. Zoë Corbyn reports

Although its candidates often lead their fields, the professional doctorate still attracts disdain, and a lack of standardisation does not help. John Gill writes

Amid the marketing puffery and opaque jargon, many prospectuses fail to explain what a course is really about, students complain. Matthew Reisz looks over the good, the bad and the flannel

What mad pursuit? Duncan Wu on a night of sublimity and terror among the roaring, soaring, brutally lyrical Monster Trucks

An HEA survey shows that teaching is still valued less than research, not least because of a lack of accord on how to assess it, writes Rebecca Attwood

After a decade as professor of physics, John Polkinghorne retrained for the priesthood. He talks to Matthew Reisz about his faith and run-ins with atheism's champion, Richard Dawkins

The inaugural Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards, run in association with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, will recognise and reward business and management. The deadline for entries is 20 February, with the ceremony to take place at the London Hilton Hotel on 9 June. Here some of the judges outline what they will be looking for

Cary Cooper reflects on the ups and downs, the friendships and rivalries, the knife-edge thrills and raw passion of years spent loving a tribal and beautiful game

The Sixties generation of academics are approaching retirement, so what better time to consider that contentious era's legacy, writes Matthew Reisz

Graduate student Jorge Cham decided to look on the bright side of his experiences and created a comic that is entertaining millions, writes Jon Marcus

US students are being advised to stop cramming through the night and get more sleep to raise their academic performance. Jon Marcus reports

A new breed of scholars is expanding the academy by turning music festivals, Lego and puppets into objects and tools of study. Hannah Fearn reports from 'out there'

Victorian values and the censoring presence of his prudish daughter blinded Charles Darwin to female promiscuity and delayed the study of sperm competition for 100 years, says Tim Birkhead

As the academy looks beyond the traditional roles played in assessment by essays and timed exams, new techniques are helping to turn students into active partners in their own learning. Rebecca Attwood reports

Academic computing has come a long way from the first lumbering leviathans. Now, says John Gilbey, we need to work on making everything accessible everywhere, every time

The espresso is Italy's gift to the world and the ideal stimulant for the creative mind, says Graham Farmelo

Continental business schools are spearheading the attempt to access the lucrative market for higher education in English. Matthew Reisz reports

'Knowledge for its own sake' is as narrowly utilitarian a remit for universities as the business-facing alternative, argues Gary Day

The economic downturn is affecting most sectors in the UK, including higher education. But, writes Hannah Fearn, it is not necessarily all bad news

Social scientists deployed in war zones to engage with civilians and advise US military commanders are under fire from their peers, writes Jon Marcus

Times Higher Education's annual Student Experience Survey highlights a host of institutions bent on making the university experience first rate in every way. Rebecca Attwood reports

National Theatre-going regular Rivka Isaacson finds compelling drama in the early morning cast of characters waiting to buy day tickets

The 'Melbourne model' has prompted universities worldwide to consider broadening undergraduate degrees. But, finds Hannah Fearn, the template does not win over everyone

Archaeology's ability to reveal the truth untainted by political, cultural and nationalist bias remains a matter for heated debate. Matthew Reisz reports

A lack of quantitative analysis and a tendency to avoid policy-based research has left the study of higher education in the doldrums, John Gill hears

The UK's only private university is led by an outspoken iconoclast, does not take part in the RAE and is home to 'internal exiles', mavericks and unabashed traditionalists. Matthew Reisz reports

Employers have discovered that a mind sharpened by the study of philosophy is ideal for today's workplace, writes Hannah Fearn

Leslie Gofton recalls swapping words, if not licks, with Jimi Hendrix, and argues that a misspent adulthood is a much greater waste than ill-spent adolescence

From nativity scenes to Apollo 8 and Beagle 2, our eternal fascination with the heavens is never greater than at Christmas, recounts Colin Pillinger

A fortnightly series in which academics step outside their area of expertise. Laleh Khalili on two intimate, nourishing and, for female academics, often simultaneous acts: breastfeeding a child and feeding one's own mind

As the findings of the final research assessment exercise are released, Times Higher Education has devised tables of excellence to rank institutions according to their subject successes and their overall quality

Is student-centred learning a sound practice based on mutually respectful shared scholarship or a managerialist fad that fails to stretch the brightest? John Gill weighs the arguments

In social situations, topologists and biophysicists alike find that their enthusiasm for their discipline is not always infectious. Matthew Reisz reports

Pressures to complete PhDs rapidly are forcing the sector to ask if the process should aim to build generic research skills or expand the frontiers of knowledge. Matthew Reisz reports

Matthew Reisz charts learned societies' evolution from a world of armchairs and empire to inclusive, forward-thinking advocates for their disciplines

Bar matters sartorial, Peter J. Smith has always been eclipsed by his older sibling - but he stayed by him even as he heard the snap of the policeman's rubber glove

Bosses want work-ready recruits, but academics argue that they may end up less happy than before if universities cultivate skills, not intellect, writes Hannah Fearn

Academia's worst snobberies may be dying out, but an accent on class still lingers, finds Matthew Reisz

We should teach PhD students how to balance the conflicting demands of scholarship and dissemination, says Peter Barry

Kevin McCarron considers doggy bags and Debrett's, passing the port and choosing urinals, and why simple good manners really do make the man

The discipline of anthropology has split firmly into two factions - social anthropologists and evolutionary anthropologists. Hannah Fearn asks whether or not the warring sides can be reconciled

Rather than helping poor students through their studies, universities may be using bursaries to give themselves a recruiting advantage, writes Rebecca Attwood

Japan and South Korea want their universities to attract overseas academic talent, but doubts persist about their readiness for the global market. Michael Fitzpatrick reports

For three decades, Laurie Taylor's fictitious university and its characters have mocked the absurdities of campus life, writes Matthew Reisz