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Academics can't agree on the function of grades or stop their rise - perhaps we'd all be better off without them, says John Summers

We search for truth in nature, on canvas and online, but Gary Day finds that illusion is usually preferred

Although universities are not to blame for the parlous state of modern foreign languages, some are trying to improve the situation

He might be the ultimate killing machine but, says Tara Brabazon, the Governor of California is out of his depth when it comes to understanding how students use textbooks

In a secular and anti-heroic age, the devotion of fans to celebrities is that of believers to gods. Expect the death of the god-like King of Pop to be denied, says myth scholar Robert A. Segal.

With its part-time external tutors, Britain's largest university gives students the attention they need, says Derek Rowntree

Academic styles of referencing are confusing and outdated, says Alec Gill. So why not simplify the whole thing? Here's how...

Gary Day is appalled by the desolation in Iraq but exhilarated at watching men walk on the Moon

The argument for boosting people¡¯s mental performance with substances such as Ritalin betrays a reductive view of learning, says Paul Cooper

Ministers led students on then abandoned them in rough weather. Universities must stick together to avoid the same fate

The burgeoning culture of complaints delivers no surprises for Alan Ryan

A PhD student's run-in with a senior researcher sets Tim Birkhead thinking

Love it or hate it, the honours system survives and is copied by many - we'd be daft not to keep it, says Adrian Furnham

Interdisciplinarity is beneficial, but it's not the only way to advance knowledge. Specialisation remains essential, writes Robert A. Segal

Gary Day is impressed by Barbara's sales technique but depressed by a less-than-funny satire

Institutions and individuals across academia are embracing the green agenda. But it's still a long way to go to sustainability

As librarians are being retitled and rebranded, Tara Brabazon focuses on their vital role

Wes Streeting says a fresh approach to education could deliver academics and students from the age of discontent

In defending himself, Simon Singh hopes to help change a system that forces writers to retreat. He urges others to join the campaign

Gary Day on Stonehenge (according to Time Team), flower arranging (by the WI), memories and poetry

The DIUS is no more, the latest sign of the Government's narrow focus on business interests at the academy's expense

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto punctures a few national illusions

Daily attempts to locate adequate, affordable car parking close to work is driving Gloria Monday to distraction

Children and a job - men are starting to cope, writes Sally Feldman

By insisting our universities¡¯ sole role is to fire the economy, we have lost sight of their more civilising purpose, says Thomas Docherty

Durham University's Chris Higgins and Anthony Forster question the wisdom of limits on the number of admissions

Gary Day winces at tales of holidays from hell, tics and swearing and the not-so-talented hopefuls

Students have to see that higher education is worth far more than what they pay in tuition fees and that it must be earned

In a networked world, there is no excuse to continue to examine British theses by British academics only, argues Tara Brabazon

Maureen Skinner, like other delegates at the meeting of America¡¯s university administrators, shared her troubles in song amid the talk of tough times

How to thrive in recession - create a market in university course futures. Richard Middleton has a modest proposal

The QAA makes some sound recommendations, but it ducks the most troublesome issues, say Geoffrey Alderman and Roger Brown

Gary Day sings an ode to manliness, from 11th-century swordplay to 21st-century six-packs

Knockabout popular debate appeals to few scholars, but if intellectuals disappear from the public eye, academia may suffer

Kevin Fong bemoans science's continuing inability to secure its future

Outrage over MPs¡¯ expenses will be as nothing to the howls unleashed when people learn that ¡®education, education, education¡¯ was a false promise, says Gloria Monday

As they stand, university rankings do not make sense, says Alan Ryan

Santiago I?iguez outlines the ways in which universities must move to adapt to a changing world

Funding trends have crossed the Atlantic, but the UK should learn from, not slavishly repeat, America's mistakes, says Donald E. Heller

Policy Exchange wants to inflict a bankrupt ideology on London's students and communities, argues Cliff Snaith

The conventions and traditions of academia make it especially difficult to pinpoint what constitutes bullying behaviour

Our desire, individually and collectively, to respect students, colleagues and universities is the best way to drive up teaching quality, says Tara Brabazon

Union confrontations will not help the sector achieve the financial stability that secures jobs, Bill Wakeham says

Fundraisers reap what university staff sow. Adrian Furnham explains why one alma mater will not receive a single penny from him

Universities ought to protect their lecturers by taking action against those who make unfounded allegations against them, argues Ian Greener

Patricia Lee, the wife of Simon Lee, former vice-chancellor of Leeds Met, responds to the media's slings and arrows

Gary Day asks what we can learn from Star Trek, enjoys a look at Wordsworth and laughs with women

The REF is moving in a direction that most of the sector is happy with, but there is still much at stake in the fine-tuning