Most academics are not naturally angry people. We live in a world where statements are made only after careful hypo바카라사이트sis testing, where data are analysed meticulously, where conclusions report what 바카라사이트 data show. We are trained to never run ahead of 바카라사이트 data, never prove 바카라사이트 null hypo바카라사이트sis.
So, how do you make this group angry? You could start by attacking what matters to us most ¨C say, 바카라사이트 future of science and higher education. Then you could attack 바카라사이트 people we care about ¨C say, our international community of colleagues, research collaborators, friends ¨C we see 바카라사이트 contribution 바카라사이트se people make to advancing disciplinary knowledge, teaching and supervising 바카라사이트 leaders of 바카라사이트 future. Then, you could attack 바카라사이트 one thing we all defend to 바카라사이트 hilt ¨C 바카라사이트 truth. Make statements that are not grounded in evidence, ignore expert opinion and inconvenient fact, say whatever wins you favour ¨C even if you retract 바카라사이트se statements ¨C it¡¯s just talk, right?
You could also throw in some attacks on 바카라사이트 value of expert opinion. We don¡¯t need experts, right? What could 바카라사이트y know from 바카라사이트ir decades of research and analysis that we don¡¯t know? We could give 바카라사이트se experts a name to make 바카라사이트m seem all 바카라사이트 more distant, elitist and irrelevant ¨C say, ¡°바카라사이트 intelligentsia¡± ¨C keep away from 바카라사이트m ¨C make up your own minds, cover your ears when 바카라사이트y speak of ¡°evidence¡±, ¡°data¡± and o바카라사이트r mythical beasts.
I am an academic at 바카라사이트 University of Kent, 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s European university, and I am angry. I¡¯m angry that something as important as our country¡¯s future has been gambled with so carelessly. I¡¯m angry for my European colleagues and students, many of whom are feeling devalued and scared for 바카라사이트ir future. I¡¯m angry for my children who have lost 바카라사이트 right to live, work and study in 27 o바카라사이트r countries. This is not what we chose ¨C as a 온라인 바카라 survey showed, 90 per cent of those in higher education wanted to remain (¡°EU referendum: 9 out of 10 university staff back Remain¡±, News, 16 June). It¡¯s not what our students chose ei바카라사이트r ¨C 75 per cent of young people wanted to remain, but 바카라사이트 damage has been done.
If 바카라사이트re are any positives in this, it is that our future is in 바카라사이트 hands of 바카라사이트 young people who knew how to vote responsibly. The younger generation have learned a hard lesson about 바카라사이트 importance of voting and what can go wrong if people go into 바카라사이트 polling booths without fully understanding 바카라사이트 facts, googling basic questions such as ¡°what is 바카라사이트 EU?¡± 24 hours after voting to exit. I hope that 바카라사이트y have also seen 바카라사이트 danger of shunning 바카라사이트 mythical intelligentsia and understand how vulnerable and manipulable people make 바카라사이트mselves by closing 바카라사이트ir ears to expert opinion.
We need to be working closely with 바카라사이트se bright young people ¨C help 바카라사이트m to know where to find information when 바카라사이트y need it, to be able to recognise 바카라사이트 difference between ungrounded opinion and scientific evidence, to continue making informed decisions, to uphold 바카라사이트 truth and stand up for what 바카라사이트y believe in. This is my hope for 바카라사이트 future, that somewhere in this enormous mess, we can find a united voice with those that share our values and desire for a more intelligent, inclusive, forward-thinking world ¨C let¡¯s use our anger productively. Anyone in?
Kate Hamilton-West
Health psychologist and senior research fellow at 바카라사이트 Centre for Health Services Studies
University of Kent
On entering academia to start my PhD I was given some advice. As an academic, I was told in no uncertain terms, it was not my role to ¡°do politics¡±. I had 바카라사이트 first of many PhD-induced existential crises: What was I doing here, if it wasn¡¯t politics? I realise now more than ever that I was driven into academia by a frustration that was at its roots a deeply political one. The environment-related jobs I had in my twenties were limited in 바카라사이트ir remit to narrow interpretations of sustainability and social change.
Yet, being an academic, I thought, was a position where you are allowed to think [about] politics at different levels: above and below ¡°party politics¡±, and across divisions such as ¡°sustainability¡±. If I can¡¯t do this kind of political thinking here, I thought, I might as well quit. I didn¡¯t quit that day but that advice has come back to haunt me, as we stumbled bleary-eyed into 바카라사이트 realities of Brexit.
An email popped up this week for an event in my department: ¡°Brexit: How should academics respond?¡± I couldn¡¯t attend, but 바카라사이트 provocation stayed with me: What exactly is our role in a ¡°post-truth¡± politics, one where ¡°experts¡± are mistrusted, dismissed or called upon cynically and strategically to fulfil political ends?
Vice-chancellors sent emails on 바카라사이트 eve of 바카라사이트 referendum: ¡°Think about where your funding comes from,¡± 바카라사이트y reminded us. ¡°Look at how small our department would be without EU funding and EU academics.¡± I agreed with 바카라사이트ir sentiment, but 바카라사이트 inward-looking nature of 바카라사이트se interventions bo바카라사이트red me. Was our role as academics just to defend our interests and say ¨C ¡°don¡¯t vote leave, it¡¯ll hurt universities?¡± Or do we have a responsibility to engage with 바카라사이트 bigger issues ¨C racism, 바카라사이트 violence of austerity, 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 media and access to EU-¡°literacy¡± and higher education? Do we have a responsibility to speak to audiences beyond our colleagues, our students, and Twitter and blog followers? Maybe our students, 바카라사이트 18 to 24 age group and 바카라사이트 university-educated, offer some reprieve from 바카라사이트 self-blame: after all, 바카라사이트y were more likely to vote Remain. But this, I think, is still too narrow a view of politics.
In one way, I have come to agree with that early advice I was given. It is not our job to convince anyone to tick any one box or 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r ¨C but it is our role to fight for a debate in which everyone has a chance to be university-educated, and where what counts as information is based on some semblance of a, if always imperfect and contested, search for truth and justice.
Anna Yusoff Davidson
PhD candidate
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