Looking forward to … Leeds IMC 2011

July is nearly here, which means the annual International Medieval Congress at Leeds is just around the corner with all its madness. I tried explaining this conference to a modern historian friend who looked frankly terrified by the prospect, both in terms of size and duration, but for those of us made of sterner stuff what can we expect from the programme this year (with its rather episcopally-coloured cover)?

Lux arumque: joy, music, beauty

Yesterday I was late leaving the house. As I pride myself on organisation and punctuality, this was a rare event. Part of the reason lies in a change in my morning listening habits from Radio4 and the horrors of ‘Today’ to whatever is on Radio3 when I wake up. Yesterday, shortly after 7.45am, this piece of music caused me to stand stock still in the kitchen - Lux arumque, by Eric Whitacre.

Time for school

At five years old this blog really should be growing up, socialising with other kids, and starting on the hard pedagogical grind that leads to exams, success (?) and the joys of HE. However, we started there in the first place, so (after gesta’s take) this is my look back…

Five years on

It would appear that On boundaries is five years old. Given my readiness to hide away for periods of time and Reivers’ general unwillingness to communicate through the medium of words, it is a small miracle that we have managed to keep this blog going for a reasonable length of time and contribute to a number of debates, albeit in a small and rather quiet fashion (at times very quiet). Some posts are good, some are not and some are downright rubbish. There are, I think, several pieces which are as relevant now as they were then so to speak, and I want to highlight my selection below.  Reivers is also compiling a list. His will be more amusing, I promise.

A new HE institution in the UK

Various articles on the BBC website and the Sunday newspapers report  the foundation of something called the ‘New College of the Humanities‘ under the mastership of A.C. Grayling whose brainchild it is. The college intends to charge fees of £18,000 per year for courses in humanities subjects, along side ‘professional skills’, mainly relating to business and government. Aside from Grayling, there are thirteen other professors, including Richard Dawkins, Nial Ferguson, David Cannadine and Linda Colley (the only woman), plus some ‘convenors’ (two out of the three listed are women) who will be in charge of the subject areas and teaching staff (not listed). Degrees will be validated by the University of London

It goes without saying that I have some major problems with this set up. I don’t believe in for profit education.* Universities are not nurseries for training graduates for prospective employers in job-specific skills. Distinguished does not mean inspiring, or even effective, on the teaching front. More contact hours does not mean better teaching. How will these degrees prepare students who wish to go on to do research? How much teaching will these distinguished professors actually do?

I shall watch developments here with interest and probable unease. At the moment, and I should be honest about this, I’m struggling to say or think anything sensible due the power of instinctive gut reaction based on strong political sensibilities.

*I may be wrong about this point, but it seems that only part of the college is governed by a charitable trust as suggested by a post by someone listed as A.C. Grayling on the Student Room:

We have set up a charitable trust alongside the College to raise money in order to make as many places free or affordable as possible.