Last week I was asked by someone relatively new to the academic game how they could start publishing. This being 2021, I rapidly realised that I should ask Twitter before answering. I wasn't sure how far my own experience, back in the 1980s, was typical in Arts and Humanities subjects, let alone how it would… Continue reading The first time: how to publish in academia
Category: career
The glamour of the academic life
Recently, on Twitter, there was a very entertaining account of a nightmare experience of giving a paper by Duncan Wilson, a historian at the University of Manchester. Just remembering the time I gave a talk in a uk university, 3 people turned up and 1 fell asleep after 10 min. They then told me there… Continue reading The glamour of the academic life
Going to dinner with the speaker
Academia can be hideous and cut-throat, but it can also be social and fun.
Working the 100-hour week
Academic twitter has been in a bit of a tizzy in the last few days. Mary Beard, who has over 240,000 followers, tweeted "Can I ask academics of any level of seniority how many hours a week they reckon they work. My current estimate is over 100. I am a mug. But what is the… Continue reading Working the 100-hour week
When the book comes out
publishers, publication and REF...
Retirement/retiring, 18 months in… an update
day in a library no longer feels wicked, like it's been stolen from teaching activities. OK, it never should have felt like that, since research was allegedly part of the job, but ...
Why I’m not changing my Twitter ID to include ‘Dr’
In the last 36 hours or so, lots of women I know who use Twitter (and lots of women I only know through Twitter) have added 'Dr' to their twitter handle (their Twitter ID) to make it clear that they have a PhD in some subject; thus, that they are experts. If you’re not on… Continue reading Why I’m not changing my Twitter ID to include ‘Dr’
The Saturday job and the day job
So apparently all young people still at school should be taking on a Saturday job, according to the Works and Pensions Secretary, Esther McVey, who has reported a fall in the number of those taking such jobs. She said it's about learning timekeeping, putting down your phone and also "people understanding what a boss wants and… Continue reading The Saturday job and the day job
Letter to the VC: or, what academics do all the time
Back in December 2015, the then-newish Vice Chancellor - in post for about 7 months - attended Arts Faculty Committee, when the whole of what was then the Arts Faculty came together, and addressed the assembled masses. I think I was the first person to ask a question when the session was opened up to… Continue reading Letter to the VC: or, what academics do all the time
Am I a ‘teacher’? Apparently not.
Is what central academics at The Open University 'teaching'? Apparently not. Just wondering why we write all the teaching materials, then...!
The retiring academic 