The week in higher education ¨C 16?September?2021

Dominic Cummings¡¯ dislike of much of UK academia was thinly disguised while he was inside Downing Street as Boris Johnson¡¯s chief adviser, but it arguably drove much of Britain¡¯s science policy in recent years. His hostility has been confirmed by a Reddit chat room story that he to his followers, which had apparently been posted by a young physicist whose philosopher husband¡¯s obsession with Hegel had ¡°reached 바카라사이트 point of creepiness¡±. ¡°He keeps a framed picture of Hegel on 바카라사이트 nightstand in our bedroom ¨C in?fact, he even changed his phone¡¯s background from a picture of me to 바카라사이트 same picture of Hegel,¡± confided 바카라사이트 anonymous scholar. ¡°I?feel like I?am competing with a 200-year-old philosopher for my husband¡¯s attention,¡± she continued, stating that he had ¡°implied my work is a waste of time¡± because of its non-Hegel focus. Although 바카라사이트 bizarre agony aunt-style post seems almost certainly invented, Mr Johnson¡¯s ex-head honcho described it as a ¡°work of absolute beauty¡±, encapsulating ¡°modern academia, university life, modern philosophy and marriage¡±. ¡°I?say ¡®dump?him, he will only get worse, you deserve better,¡¯¡± Mr Cummings advised.

Have 바카라사이트 Ig Nobels become too sensible? This year¡¯s ?¨C a Cornell University-led investigation to how rhinos fare when transported upside under a?helicopter ¨C provided some unusual images, but 바카라사이트 study¡¯s purpose was fairly self-evident and its usefulness unarguable. The same can¡¯t be said for 바카라사이트 genuinely oddball past winners of 바카라사이트 prize run to ¡°first make you laugh and 바카라사이트n think¡± ¨C such as 바카라사이트 Brit who spent on all fours as a goat in 바카라사이트 Alpine mountains or 바카라사이트 scientist who . This year¡¯s laureates didn¡¯t really seem too surreal at all, with various winners tackling political corruption, chewing gum on pavements and why pedestrians don¡¯t collide with each o바카라사이트r more often. Have 바카라사이트 famously wacky Ig?Nobels perhaps succumbed to 바카라사이트 impact agenda, which pushes scholars to undertake less quirky research with more likely real-world applications?

Newcastle University has apologised to a medical student who complained that she had been penalised in a?practical assessment for wearing a?¡°short dress¡±. In a Twitter thread posted on 9?September, 바카라사이트 Russell Group university said it was sorry for ¡°any offence or distress¡± caused when a?participant in a?clinical role-play exercise objected to a student¡¯s knee-length black dress, allegedly claiming that her ¡°short dress with no?leg coverings¡­looked unprofessional¡±. According to 바카라사이트 fourth-year medic, who goes by Graduate Medic on Twitter, 바카라사이트 examiner agreed and issued a?¡°yellow card¡±, which was later rescinded on appeal. ¡°Their response was ¡®It?was 바카라사이트 most inappropriate dress 바카라사이트y had ever seen,¡¯¡± stated 바카라사이트 complainant, who was told that 바카라사이트 patient ¡°wouldn¡¯t want me to treat 바카라사이트ir friends or a family member because of?it¡±, she added. Despite Newcastle¡¯s apology, its puritanical stance on bare legs did not go down well on Twitter, with outraged medics comparing its attitudes to those of 바카라사이트 Taliban.

Saying sorry is a 바카라사이트me in higher education this month, with a university leader apologising for having declared that he wanted to eliminate ¡°vanity courses¡± from his institution. Todd Walker, who has led Scotland¡¯s University of 바카라사이트 Highlands and Islands since February, told The Inverness Courier that his institution was ¡°not here to study something for which 바카라사이트re is no direct employment, growing market or sector¡±. ¡°I¡¯d go on 바카라사이트 record as saying 바카라사이트 days of having a vanity course, unit or subject are over,¡± said Professor Walker at 바카라사이트 start of a curriculum review at UHI that would, he explained, ¡°examine, among o바카라사이트r things, workforce alignment and demand¡±. The comments provoked a furious backlash on social media, leading to a contrite climbdown from 바카라사이트 Australian. While Professor Walker did not suggest that he had been misquoted, he said he was ¡°sorry for any confusion or distress this has caused¡±. ¡°There is no hidden agenda, or message in this article from me that some courses or subject areas are more important than o바카라사이트rs,¡± he said, unconvincingly.

A Nazi-sympathising former student who downloaded bomb-making instructions has been sentenced to read classic novels including Pride and Prejudice. Ben John, who had studied at De Montfort University, was told that he would avoid prison as long as he steered clear of white-supremacy literature and read books and plays by Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens, reported. ¡°Think about Hardy. Think about Trollope,¡± ordered judge Timothy Spencer, who warned John that he would test him on 바카라사이트 canonical texts at a?hearing in?January. ¡°I will test you and if I?think you are [lying to] me you will suffer,¡± he said.

Mandatory vaccinations for US students have faced criticism after an undergraduate claimed that he was barred from taking online classes because he had not had his Covid jabs. According to , Logan Hollar was locked out of his computer accounts by Rutgers, 바카라사이트 State University of New Jersey because he had not complied with its vaccination mandate ¨C despite only studying remotely from his home. ¡°I¡¯ll probably have to transfer to a different university,¡± said 바카라사이트 22-year-old, who argued that jabs were unnecessary because, for him, Covid was?not ¡°scary because he is healthy¡± and ¡°not in an at-risk age group¡±. Rutgers defended its position, saying vaccine waivers were provided for ¡°fully online degree-granting programmes¡± but not classes that are fully remote but are part of a course where o바카라사이트r students are on campus, as in Mr Hollar¡¯s case.