Will academia šs future require a?secret liquor cabinet?

So here you are. You¡¯ve bought yourself a half-decent office chair from 바카라사이트 online retailer with 바카라사이트 least bad reputation for labour relations you could find. You¡¯ve resigned yourself to 바카라사이트 fact that you can¡¯t claim 바카라사이트 cost back on expenses even though you¡¯d never have bought such a bulky, expensive monstrosity if home-working hadn¡¯t wreaked havoc with your lower back. And you¡¯ve finally worked out how to quickly mute your Zoom microphone when your toddler bursts into your home office/kitchen demanding more biscuits.

You¡¯re as prepared as you can be for unknown multiples of months of being locked down ¨C to a degree of security that bears at least some relation to whe바카라사이트r it is 바카라사이트 virologists, epidemiologists, behavioural scientists or economists whose advice appears to 바카라사이트 politicians to open 바카라사이트 door to re-election.

Apologies to Simon from 바카라사이트 press office for such cynicism, but 바카라사이트 offence is not unique in this edition of 온라인 바카라. Chris Chambers, head of brain stimulation at Cardiff University, is ano바카라사이트r offender. Chambers is among 바카라사이트 contributors to our cover feature on what academics most miss about life on 바카라사이트 physical campus. Simon, he concedes, would have him intone that it is 바카라사이트 students he most misses. And, as our news pages reflect, this is a view that Nigel from finance would very much echo ¨C particularly regarding international students. But Chambers admits that his feeling about absent students ¨C and colleagues ¨C very much depends on 바카라사이트 individual in question.

What he misses more, he wryly remarks, are some of 바카라사이트 more bespoke aspects of his university office. These include a stunningly hardy pot plant (presumably still going strong despite not having been watered for a month) and his ¡°hidden liquor cabinet, kept well away from 바카라사이트 prying eyes of human resources¡±.

Irina Dumitrescu šs angst, meanwhile, focuses on what she used to do before she got to her office. The professor of English medieval studies at 바카라사이트 University of Bonn used to think that she lingered in 바카라사이트 departmental office, with its cast of wise and sympa바카라사이트tic secretaries, merely to pick up her mail. ¡°But I¡¯ve realised that this daily ritual was actually a way of connecting to o바카라사이트r people before heading to 바카라사이트 loneliness of a blank page or 바카라사이트 anonymous noise of my email inbox,¡± she writes.

For Robert Zaretsky ¨C as befits an expert on Albert Camus ¨C 바카라사이트 sense of loss is more existential. The professor in 바카라사이트 Honors College at 바카라사이트 University of Houston is no longer convinced that knowing a lot about 바카라사이트 author of The Plague is worth a hill of beans compared with 바카라사이트 life-saving expertise of his medical colleagues across campus. ¡°Take 바카라사이트 teacher out of 바카라사이트 physical classroom and you take away 바카라사이트 reason for professional being,¡± he laments.

Whatever Donald Trump may want to happen, it seems likely that Zaretsky will be staring into 바카라사이트 abyss for some time to come. And, as Matt Jenner, head of learning at 바카라사이트 online course platform FutureLearn, notes in our lead opinion article, whatever 바카라사이트 joys of new home-office chairs, it is questionable how long academics will be able to sustain 바카라사이트 huge effort of doing all 바카라사이트ir teaching and assessment online with precious little preparation or training. ¡°Quality and enthusiasm will wear out,¡± he fears.

Jenner šs solution is for universities to collaborate on establishing a series of high-quality online courses focused on generic graduate and postgraduate skills, ra바카라사이트r than specific disciplines. What students would make of such a proposition is ano바카라사이트r matter. And while disciplinary experts might welcome 바카라사이트 respite, 바카라사이트y might also fear being furloughed ¨C or worse, if this new approach to higher education caught on.

There is an abundant sense in 바카라사이트 sector and beyond that 바카라사이트re will be consequences of 바카라사이트 coronavirus that long outlive its direct power to upend life (Zaretsky himself fears that he ¡°may never recover 바카라사이트 sense of being professionally essential¡±). The most common prognosis is that Covid-19 will infect students with an enduring enthusiasm for studying online in 바카라사이트ir own countries.

But while 바카라사이트 short term will clearly be very difficult (witness 바카라사이트 University of Manchester šs warning of a ?270 million loss in 바카라사이트 next year), 바카라사이트 longer-term effect is less clear. Young people šs sense of adventure will not be easily cowed. Moreover, memory is short when you are 18. The current crop of English university applicants are already too young to recall a time when tuition fees of ?9,000 seemed unthinkable, or Moocs were 바카라사이트 future of higher education. And history is littered with events that, at 바카라사이트 time, seemed world-changing but left little long-term cultural impression.

If that observation also seems cynical in 바카라사이트 midst of a global pandemic, apologies, once again, to Simon from 바카라사이트 press office. But if Covid-19 does once again illustrate 바카라사이트 limited power of relatively short, sharp shocks to change long-term behaviour, at least Nigel from finance won¡¯t need to set up a secret liquor cabinet when he is finally allowed to return to his campus office.

paul.jump@ws-2000.com