Features from THE

Truth? There's the rub

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Politicians and people profess to prize authenticity and integrity, but discerning the truthful person from the sincere but self-deceived and the dissembling is tricky. Simon Blackburn ponders questions of virtue

Extreme makeover

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Hong Kong has rebuilt its curriculum from the ground up to embrace 'experiential learning' and internationalism so as to produce 'global citizens'. Hannah Fearn reports

Pecking order

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Peter Lennox keeps chickens, and they have taught him a great deal about behaviour, ethics, evolution and the psychopathic nature of modern 'efficiency'

We did it before...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

As universities agonise over greatly reduced funding from the state, David Greenaway reminds them that they were once much more financially self-reliant and would do well to rekindle the old spirit

My Eureka Moment: 'Small places matter more than big ones'

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ron Johnston's investigations into the impact of geography on democracy have revealed that people in the same class position tend to support different parties depending on where they live

It's in the cards

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

When Bob Blaisdell was finally persuaded to use index cards for study, he became as obsessive about them as he was about the baseball cards of his youth

Off Piste: Fabulous baker's joys

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Therese Huston's lifelong passion for baking has provided happiness and sustenance on many levels

Get happy, and get on with it

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Projects to boost staff wellbeing are all the rage, but some people wonder if the interest in workers' psychological health belies a rather less altruistic agenda. Melanie Newman reports

You can lecture, but can you teach?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Protests against the idea that academics be given teacher-training are misguided, argues Eric Sotto

It's all about them

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The universities that do well in Times Higher Education's Student Experience poll put students first, but as Rebecca Attwood learns, there is more than one way to do that

Prudence, you no longer rule my world

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Deirdre McCloskey once thought economics and rationality were the key to understanding society, but the explanatory power of rhetoric has dented her faith in the dismal science

The core connection

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Many in the humanities feel that their disciplines and relevance are under attack. Matthew Reisz asks if 'the best that has been thought and said' still has a place in today's universities

Moving words

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Cheerless and drab but 'full of amazing stuff'. The British Library Newspapers collection at Colindale is moving and also becoming increasingly digitised. Huw Richards wonders if researchers will miss the feel of the paper beneath their...

Off Piste: Turntable revolution

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

For the young Robert Appelbaum, music was his guide, teaching him the language of life and leading him ever further away from the musicals of his parents to John Coltrane - and back

A good shepherd guides gently

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Graeme Harper says postgraduates need good supervisors, but they also need more recognition from universities and the Government

Battered but unbowed

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Bahram Bekhradnia discusses his experiences as an observer of Palestine's universities. Despite the manifold dangers posed by the Israeli occupation, they continue to succeed against the odds unbowed

Journey of the sole - My Eureka moment

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A photography student's holiday snaps and a trip to the traffic-free streets of Mozambique led Caroline Knowles to embark on a project tracing the route to market of the common plastic flip-flop

To have and to hold

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Books are essential tools of the scholarly trade, but Matthew Reisz meets some people whose relationship with texts goes beyond close reading

The art of the possible

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Cash-strapped American universities are being forced to question the role of their multimillion-dollar art collections, writes Jon Marcus

Royal icing on the cake

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A VIP visit and a gentleman surgeon turned a hospital stay into a fond memory for Janine Spencer

Beyond debate?

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Copenhagen summit is in full force, and so too is the idea that man-made global warming is incontrovertible. But Martin Cohen argues that the consensus is less a triumph of science and rationality than of PR and fear-mongering

Finns, they are a-changin'

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Tertiary education in Finland is highly regarded worldwide, but Ed Dutton fears next year's legislative changes may not be an improvement

Spaces of selfhood

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

John D. Brewer reflects on the experiences that led him into sociology and drove his research interests over the following four decades

The French disconnection

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Bruno Cousin and Michèle Lamont say academics at France's public universities need to rethink their strategy after this year's protests alienated the public and had little impact on the Government

'Why not choose a happier subject?'

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Sorcha Gunne and Zoë Brigley Thompson explain that they study rape and its narratives to understand and demythologise a difficult and unpleasant subject. But such is the taboo, it's tough to discuss their work openly

Poetry cornered

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Goodbye, sweet Calliope, farewell Erato? In a consumerist world where speed and image rule, poetry's emotional meanings are being lost. Neil McBride muses, partly through verse, on the future of this embattled art

Global revolution

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A radical change is taking place in universities around the world as fast-expanding private provision offers access to millions of new students. Is this a threat to the traditional sector and to standards of education or is it a challenge...

Welcome to our consumers

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Student satisfaction will be the arena where private and public universities will have to compete, reports Hannah Fearn

The American lesson: How to be top

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ivy League institutions rose to greatness only after being cut off from state aid and meddling, says Terence Kealey

Hopes are high that the President is 'singing their song'

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The private education sector in the US is in buoyant mood, seeing good prospects both at home and abroad, reports Jon Marcus

My eureka moment: The wake-up call

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A dream about Bartôk brought Malcolm Gillies his conceptual breakthrough, although it would take him another five years to finish writing it down

Do you want to be in my gang?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Some say mission groups help air vital issues collegially, but others think they selfishly expose the sector to divide-and-rule tactics. Melanie Newman looks at the group dynamics

Off Piste: Reinventing the past

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We bring home mementoes because we want a tangible memory of a time or place. Ulrike Zitzlsperger ponders souvenirs and how they reshape history

In the heavens, as it is on Earth

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life may be closer than we think, thanks to a surge of research in astrobiology. Lewis Dartnell is determined to ascertain that we are not alone

Learning to share

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Free, immediate and permanently available research results for all - that's what the open-access campaigners want. Unsurprisingly, the subscription publishers disagree. Zoë Corbyn weighs up the ramifications for journals, while Matthew Reisz...

'Giving it away' a textbook argument

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Matthew Reisz assesses what open access means for book authors

Telling Tales

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

History: fact or fiction? Ronald Hutton's early experience of discerning reality from fantasy has coloured his view of the subject since