Academic life

For insight into the ‘pervasive dislocation’ of people’s lives today, the sociologist Jeff Ferrell rode the rails across the US. He tells Matthew Reisz about life on the road and the limits of mainstream research

The former gay porn star turned academic on what lecturers can learn from the adult entertainment industry

If his late-night photos of the senior common room Christmas party made it into wider circulation, John Brinnamoor would be a dead man

Business academic Diane Holt recalls her experience aboard a ‘floating university’

Crackdown leaves professors needing to pay back almost €250,000 each on average

Criticism of ‘obsolete’ passages by Gallic political leaders has led to a ban on new students learning French

Employers make final offer for 2018-19

Humanities subjects set to be hardest hit by restructure

Investigation discovers that three-quarters of advertised posts are filled by an internal candidate

Move comes in response to government initiative on gender equality

The Booker prizewinning author talks about novelists and academic historians’ ‘complementary trades’, ‘less subtle’ scholars and studying for a lifetime

The university lecture should be seen as a special form of human encounter, argue Amanda Fulford and Áine Mahon

Efforts to reclaim imperial history from so-called ‘politically correct’ professors have little to do with genuine academic debate, argue James McDougall and Kim Wagner

From MI5 recruiting, to students spying on each other and intelligence agencies funding research, Matthew Reisz explores the long and often uneasy relationship between espionage and the academy

The UK's first-ever Twitter-only teaching and learning conference shows academic symposia with international reach can be organised on a shoestring, say Natalie Lafferty and Pat Lockley

The framing of the Peter Horrocks row misses the bigger issue underlying the conflict and the opportunity to sketch out a vibrant future for this important national institution, say Mark Brandon, Joe Smith and Martin Weller

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the world’s media

The protests against pensions reforms reflect not just self-interest but also anger about working conditions and a sense that universities are losing their way. Jack Grove explores how proposed changes to the USS strained and broke bonds of trust

Academic gatherings may be fun, but they do little to advance knowledge. To justify the public spending that supports them, such events must do more to provide benefits to those who don’t attend, argues Nicholas Rowe

Excessive red tape, not snowflake students, has rightly been highlighted as the real threat to freedom of speech on campus, says Peter Baran

Barrister Daniel Sokol explains some of the key mistakes made by those advising students on academic appeals

‘If we want to do more things for society, we can’t do it by working more than 60 or 70 hours a week,’ Rolf Tarrach tells annual conference

Constant emails from the likes of Academia.edu and ResearchGate keep Ron Iphofen in a state of anxiety over what he may be missing   

Women and their clothing are scrutinised more closely because men are seen as the norm in academia. Emma Rees considers the codes at play in what is supposedly a radical space

Two new studies indicate young and female researchers are at high risk

The mere mention of fairies in academic circles can bring derision. Yet the field is a rich one that has much to offer open-minded, multidisciplinary scholars, writes Simon Young

As the National Union of Students conference in Glasgow begins on 27 March, Nick Hillman ponders if the student voice is becoming too powerful in universities

Binghamton University, State University of New York academic’s response to fundraising dinner invitation for National Society of Black Engineers branded ‘deeply offensive’

The apparent theft of exam papers in Papua New Guinea suggests to John Warren that we should all be more transparent over marking mishaps   

Casualisation and treating academics like feckless children who can’t be trusted have also taken their toll, says Sarah Colvin

The world’s first research university offers to take care of those with caring responsibilities

Bill Galvin, chief executive of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, tackles some of the ‘misunderstandings’ about the fund’s approach to its valuation

Research fellowship will explore how the US civil rights leader’s work could improve relations between academics and administrators

Does solidarity among female scholars exist only in the (male) mind? Are women really supportive of one another? And if so, how far does it go to redressing male advantage?

Stephen Hawking’s enormous achievements in science and communication are a manifestation of amazing willpower and determination, says the astronomer royal

Academic and non-academic staff contributed an estimated 40 million hours in voluntary activities in 2015-2016, research suggests

People must be treated fairly, but endless box-ticking is not the way to ensure this, say Roger Watson and David Thompson

Where you live and where your family comes from still determine your access to a university education, says London Metropolitan University vice-chancellor John Raftery

The internet impedes human interactions, warps civilised discourse and aggravates misunderstandings, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto 

The crisis in student mental well-being is no secret, but academics too feel overwhelmed by the demands on them. Universities cannot ignore their plight

The frenzied pace and meaningless demands of university life can often enable a depressed scholar’s existing neuroses. Joe Moran offers some coping strategies

For academics and students alike, pressure to perform coupled with a lack of institutional support can severely affect mental health

Free Speech University Rankings coordinator Tom Slater says academics are peddling myths and smears to downplay the shocking level of censorship on campus

Nottingham Trent University’s chair of governors Neil Goulden explains why institutions need to do more to regain public esteem

Their emphasis on cultivating understanding makes universities natural homes for those at war with their societies, says Shahidha Bari

Alexander Clark and Bailey Sousa urge academics to leave their ‘fixed mindsets’ behind if they want their careers to flourish

The evidence used to compile Spiked Online’s Free Speech Rankings is not to be trusted, says Carl Thompson

Symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress are more acute for PhD candidates classified as exceeding their schedule

The UK Border Agency’s treatment of non-EU musicians is undermining vital cultural exchange, says Michael Edwards

After writing The War on the Old, UCL professor turns to The War on the Young

Attending the criminal trial of a dissident scholar brings home the inhumanity of Turkey’s academic purge, says Masi Noor, and underlines the importance of showing solidarity

THE survey reveals how work pressures shape researchers’ decisions around relationships and family

Academics routinely offer praise and encouragement to their students. Why are they so reluctant to offer it to each other? asks Terri Apter

Books offer an experience, evidence trail and egalitarianism that could never be digitised, say Al Martinich and Tom Palaima

Times Higher Education’s first major global survey of university staff views on work-life balance finds academics feeling stressed and underpaid, and struggling to fit time for personal relationships and family around their ever-growing workloads. Ellie Bothwell reports

Generous leave packages used as a strategy to retain top female researchers in elite institutions, study suggests

Suspension is a legal and emotional minefield that can blow up in managers’ faces, says a wrongfully suspended scholar 

Growing interest in the student mental health crisis is welcome, but it is overburdened hourly paid lecturers who are most at risk of stress in universities, says Sam Christie

Universities must do more to tackle the class privilege that is still rife in the ranks of academia, says Louise Morley

Sexual misconduct is now being openly discussed, but universities still lack policies to safeguard staff from sexual violence in the workplace. This means victims remain afraid to speak out, says a female academic and rape survivor