Advice, insights and solutions for the challenges facing higher education from academics, faculty and staff at institutions around the world. Hear teaching tips, writing pointers, discussions on the big issues, forecasts and first-hand experiences from university leaders.
Episodes
Thursday Sep 03, 2015
Thursday Sep 03, 2015
The proportion of administrators in UK universities, this week's Books section, and the abolition of tuition fees in Germany are all discussed in this week's issue review podcast.
Thursday Aug 27, 2015
Thursday Aug 27, 2015
Ten PhD slip-ups to avoid, the future of the Higher Education Academy and the effect of managerialism on universities are all discussed in this week's issue review podcast.
Thursday Aug 20, 2015
Thursday Aug 20, 2015
Which universities are the world's leading collaborators with industry? Which region of the UK has the most contented higher education staff? And what's in this week's Times Higher Education Books section?
Thursday Aug 13, 2015
Thursday Aug 13, 2015
The National Student Survey, A level results, and the World University Rankings are discussed in this Times Higher Education issue review.
Thursday Aug 06, 2015
Thursday Aug 06, 2015
Which countries produce the most Nobel prizewinners? What will become of the Ahelo project? What happened at the inaugural Times Higher Education Africa Universities Summit?
Friday Jul 31, 2015
Friday Jul 31, 2015
Canterbury Christ Church University sociologist Jennie Bristow’s book Baby Boomers and Generational Conflict was covered in our books pages a few weeks ago. The peer reviewer I chose for the job of assessing her monograph is an early career scholar known for his own book on the subject – and, admittedly, even better known for his previous day job. David Willetts, formerly minister for universities and science, is now a visiting professor affiliated with the Policy Institute at King’s College London.
As Professor Willetts’ critically acclaimed and agenda-setting 2010 book The Pinch: How The Baby Boomers Took Their Children’s Future – And Why They Should Give it Back was one of the works Dr Bristow focused on in her wide-ranging study, and as his review praised her book’s insights into the work of Karl Mannheim but took issue with its “postmodern” focus on the “cultural script” forming around “the baby boomer problem”, I thought it would be interesting to introduce academic author to peer reviewer in the confines of our podcast studio, and invite them to discuss – or slug it out.
So, for 45 minutes, you’ll hear me refereeing as two scholars – one a baby boomer and the other a Generation X-er, in case you wondered – who are both fascinated by generational and demographic change and its social, economic and political impact debate the issues.
They talk about each others’ books, Mannheim’s groundbreaking early 20th-century work, whether top-down media positioning of the baby boomer generation as a “Boomergeddon” problem is merely a cover for the realities of sharply rising inequality, soaring house prices and the rollback of the state, why The Pinch wasn’t called We Need to Talk About Pensions, what books both scholars are working on next, and just how much Mr Willetts enjoyed getting his very first round of peer review at King’s.
- Karen Shook, THE books editor
Thursday Jul 30, 2015
Thursday Jul 23, 2015
Thursday Jul 23, 2015
What might a teaching excellence framework look like? Why are universities spending less on facilities? Could funding for PhD supervision be under threat?
Thursday Jul 16, 2015
Thursday Jul 16, 2015
The consequences for universities in the wake of a Brexit, what the academic world is reading this summer, institutions criticised for not doing enough to widen access to university, and sub-cutaneous primates are all discussed in the latest Times Higher Education issue review.
Chris Havergal is joined by books editor Karen Shook, news editor Simon Baker and deputy news editor John Morgan.
Thursday Jul 09, 2015
Thursday Jul 09, 2015
Making external examiners independent, troublesome students, an experimental Africa ranking, and Baroness Amos's new university appointment are all
discussed in the latest Times Higher Education issue review.
John Elmes is joined by reporters Ellie Bothwell, Matthew Reisz and Jack Grove.