Christopher Phelps surveys a field that lends itself to interdisciplinarity, while a British scholar laments that UK institutions prefer Americans for Americanists
Lincoln Allison takes a fond look back at the permissiveness prevalent at universities in the 1960s and 1970s, while a more ambivalent Susan Bassnett recalls a reality that didn’t quite live up to the nostalgic hype
Jack Grove learns how sites have been reinvented for the 24/7 digital age, while Donald Brown reflects on the role libraries played in his journey from the Mississippi Delta to Oxford
Academia takes in some truly esoteric topics and tasks, but what are the strangest jobs? Here, five individuals with surprising roles describe their work
The discipline has promised big advances in many areas, but is it failing to live up to the hype? Three neuroscientists consider the state of their field
The report’s deep meditation on foreign policy makes it more than an inquest into the failings of individuals and institutions in the conduct of the Iraq War, argues Glen Rangwala
Whether or not Moocs live up to the hype, technology’s impact on universities is real and growing, Stanford University’s John Hennessy tells Ellie Bothwell
The former head of the American University in Cairo, Lisa Anderson, tells Chris Havergal how it carried on and kept students and staff safe without limiting free speech
Vice-chancellors have again come in for flak over what they are paid. We look at how their compensation packages compare with those of their international peers. Jack Grove runs the numbers
A recent paper claims that the quality of researchers declines with age. Five senior scientists consider the data and how they’ve contributed through the years
Amid all the events to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Peter J. Smith contemplates our appetite for everything – and anything – to do with the Bard
Youth is not a bar to excellence, despite older institutions’ rankings success. Jack Grove analyses how some youthful contenders have risen in the ranks
Universities need a new funding model, say Andrei E. Ruckenstein, Mark E. Smith and Nicola C. Owen, who want academics to take the lead in tackling the problem