Every so often, an article appears in the national press announcing the death of the university. A recent example in The Telegraph linked the possible demise of universities to the disruptive effects of AI on assessment and coursework. More broadly, the causes usually cited vary: financial instability, student debt, dependence on international recruitment, loss of …
Introduction A rich aesthete, a therapist, and a manager walked into a university… and made it their home. It is a poor punchline, but then this is no joke: these three characters have quietly shaped the moral logic of many contemporary universities and show no signs of leaving. In After Virtue, Alasdair MacIntyre diagnoses modern …
Today there is almost constant talk in universities of excellence: excellence of institutions, of staff, and even of students. A quick search of the University of Edinburgh website yields teaching and research excellence (including the Research Excellence Framework), academic excellence, Exemplars of Excellence in Student Education, VLE Excellence, Tercentenary Awards for Excellence, the Centre for …
Few concepts are invoked more confidently in contemporary universities than the student voice. Yet the way the term is framed – and especially the language of championing it – obscures the limits of student judgement while revealing a deeper unease with educational authority. In higher education, what is needed is not greater responsiveness, but the …
