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Leslie Gofton recalls swapping words, if not licks, with Jimi Hendrix, and argues that a misspent adulthood is a much greater waste than ill-spent adolescence

From nativity scenes to Apollo 8 and Beagle 2, our eternal fascination with the heavens is never greater than at Christmas, recounts Colin Pillinger

A fortnightly series in which academics step outside their area of expertise. Laleh Khalili on two intimate, nourishing and, for female academics, often simultaneous acts: breastfeeding a child and feeding one's own mind

As the findings of the final research assessment exercise are released, Times Higher Education has devised tables of excellence to rank institutions according to their subject successes and their overall quality

Is student-centred learning a sound practice based on mutually respectful shared scholarship or a managerialist fad that fails to stretch the brightest? John Gill weighs the arguments

In social situations, topologists and biophysicists alike find that their enthusiasm for their discipline is not always infectious. Matthew Reisz reports

Pressures to complete PhDs rapidly are forcing the sector to ask if the process should aim to build generic research skills or expand the frontiers of knowledge. Matthew Reisz reports

Matthew Reisz charts learned societies' evolution from a world of armchairs and empire to inclusive, forward-thinking advocates for their disciplines

Bar matters sartorial, Peter J. Smith has always been eclipsed by his older sibling - but he stayed by him even as he heard the snap of the policeman's rubber glove

Bosses want work-ready recruits, but academics argue that they may end up less happy than before if universities cultivate skills, not intellect, writes Hannah Fearn

Academia's worst snobberies may be dying out, but an accent on class still lingers, finds Matthew Reisz

We should teach PhD students how to balance the conflicting demands of scholarship and dissemination, says Peter Barry

The discipline of anthropology has split firmly into two factions - social anthropologists and evolutionary anthropologists. Hannah Fearn asks whether or not the warring sides can be reconciled

Rather than helping poor students through their studies, universities may be using bursaries to give themselves a recruiting advantage, writes Rebecca Attwood

Kevin McCarron considers doggy bags and Debrett's, passing the port and choosing urinals, and why simple good manners really do make the man

A lesson in animal behaviour helped Bob Blaisdell improve classroom comforts and student learning

Japan and South Korea want their universities to attract overseas academic talent, but doubts persist about their readiness for the global market. Michael Fitzpatrick reports

Japan and South Korea want their universities to attract overseas academic talent, but doubts persist about their readiness for the global market. Michael Fitzpatrick reports

For three decades, Laurie Taylor's fictitious university and its characters have mocked the absurdities of campus life, writes Matthew Reisz

In the UK, the gulf between the political and the academic worlds seems all-but unbreachable while Americans flit easily between lecture halls and halls of power. Here Matthew Reisz examines why Whitehall seems so inhospitable to scholars, while overleaf Jon Marcus looks at why Washington is so accommodating

In America, it is common for academics to play a prominent political role. Jon Marcus reports

Milton expert Stanley Fish refuses to demonise the administrator and warns against influencing the moral character of students, he tells Matthew Reisz

Moving house is the perfect way to begin a new chapter of your life, says Mary Warnock, even if those around you think you're mad

Scientists say degree courses in complementary therapies and alternative medicine are 'baloney' and 'mumbo-jumbo'. CAM academics disagree passionately. Zoe Corbyn checks out the fray

Sex is researched across many disciplines, but there are no certificated courses in sexology in the UK. Matthew Reisz considers some of the scientists who are focusing on sexual functioning and behaviour

Whatever their social and cultural backgrounds, students will flourish if we take them seriously and impart a love of our subject, says Frank Furedi

Linda Colley tells Matthew Reisz how her work on 'Britishness' fed into an exhibition about the fight to enshrine liberty in the national fabric

Is dumbing down a reality on UK campuses? Most respondents to our online poll highlighted dangers to academic standards, but they were split about whether degrees are worth less than they were before. John Gill weighs up the facts

Those who say life is like a game are confusing fantasy with reality, says Robert A. Segal

Universities tried to stop further education colleges gaining the power to award foundation degrees. Hannah Fearn reports on the tension between the two sectors and asks whether their formerly close relationship will be ruined by a fight for students

Looking back on her lifelong love of teaching, Sally Brown believes that well-designed assessment is one of pedagogy's greatest tools

Renowned feminist writer Sheila Rowbotham talks to Matthew Reisz about writing from her own experience and imagining what it is like to be inside a homosexual man's body

In performing magic, academic and author Dale Salwak found a demanding calling that rewarded him with joy and self-discovery

UK scholars are slowly but surely heading into the blogosphere. Zoe Corbyn reports

Asia is determined to keep its bright sparks at home while Britain struggles to develop native scientists. Linda Nordling reports that some think this presents a golden opportunity for the UK to leap ahead by leaving basic science to other nations

Britain's one-year masters is proving a sticking point in the Bologna Process, but the equivalence issue is raising difficult questions about length of study for other degrees, too. Hannah Fearn reports

Forget those scrawled annotations: Peter Barry believes that students learn far more about how to craft an essay from a few minutes of face-to-face dialogue

John Gilbey was on first-name terms with Nobel laureates and all the other 'campers' at Science Foo, a three-day intellectual free-for-all that left him exhausted but elated

As state funding for public education plummets, US universities are forging mutually beneficial alliances at local level. Jon Marcus reports

A refusal to visit a barber was a badge of defiance for Sixties youth, but Simon Goldhill, an academic with a beard, warns that in adult life anxieties over the boundary between public and pubic can be ticklish

Which universities are stepping into the spotlight?

As the Olympic flame departs Beijing 2008 and the world's attention shifts to London 2012, UK universities are looking forward to sharing the spotlight. Hannah Fearn reports

Teaching is a solo vice, says Alex Danchev, but when he took a partner to help lead a seminar on life-writing, he found his enjoyment doubled

Amid worries about examining practices, Times Higher Education asked ten academics to mark a first-year paper. Verdicts ranged from zero to a 2:1, but the markers identified an inherent consensus, says Rebecca Attwood

Raymond Geuss foresees a future of strict controls or war over resources. Matthew Reisz meets the radical philosopher and traces his intellectual development

Prog rock devotee Greg Walker takes an affectionate look at an intelligent and gloriously ambitious genre, and asks us to celebrate the era when rock's dinosaurs roamed the Earth

Students' expectations of college life are formed long before they arrive, but blaming them for a lack of realism isn't the answer. Hannah Fearn reports

Tom Palaima tells of the passion that drove him to teach Classics and how it is at odds with the 'educational shopping mall' vision of officialdom

Cern's 27km-long underground Collider may lead particle physicists to the 'theory of everything'. But before that, they must educate a wide-eyed public in the basics of science. Matthew Reisz reports

Are US students getting it? Not according to a new wave of campus magazines that aim to foster healthy ideas and adult discussion about sex. Jon Marcus gets under the covers

Academic fraud in Britain is endemic, but universities continue to argue the case for self-regulation. America and Denmark have tougher regimes in place, so should we follow their lead? asks Tariq Tahir

Twenty years ago, Paul Kennedy provoked intense debate with his claims about the decline of US power. Huw Richards meets a man still unafraid of tackling the grand strategies of empire and war

Contrary to expectations, it seems that we have succeeded in developing forms of society in which doing the hokey-cokey is what it's all about. Roy Harris pays tribute to an inspirational text

Researcher-dominated schools of architecture are being blamed for a generation who don't know how to make buildings stand up. Hannah Fearn reports

From Aids to climate change, scientists tackling global threats often struggle to balance accurate reporting with a commitment to drive governments to action. Matthew Reisz reports

The huge expansion of higher education in the Gulf offers major opportunities for UK academe. But, as John Gill reports, there are also challenges

Applications from would-be students are increasingly less likely to be seen by an academic as universities turn to new ways to sieve the burgeoning number of applications, writes Rebecca Attwood, while Jon Marcus reports on the challenges facing US institutions