In lieu of proper academic content, here is a link to a review written by me that went online today:
http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2010/12/the_mammoth_boo.shtml
I hope to get back to proper blogging here in the New Year.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
A Letter to my MP
Dear Sir John Stanley,
I am writing to you to express my concerns about the Government's plans for Higher Education. The Government wishes to shift the burden of cost from teaching grants to fees paid by students. The increased fees are likely to deter students from poorer backgrounds, and many institutions may not be able to make up the lost grant money through fees.
Every government since the Robbins report has accepted the need to fund Higher Education for the national good. The Government is now turning away from this, and leaving the universities to operate as private sector organizations. The effects of this radical change to the way universities are financed have not been properly considered, but are being rushed into.
Many arts, humanities and social science courses will be entirely dependent upon fees income. The Government's lack of support for such courses suggests that they do not consider them important. This is a serious mistake, which will leave the country lacking in many of the skills it needs, and culturally impoverished.
The Government claims that it wishes to maintain the status of the country's universities as among the best in the world, and that it wishes to widen access, and improve social mobility. Their reforms will achieve none of this. I therefore urge you to vote against the Government on Thursday.
Yours sincerely,
Antony Keen
I am writing to you to express my concerns about the Government's plans for Higher Education. The Government wishes to shift the burden of cost from teaching grants to fees paid by students. The increased fees are likely to deter students from poorer backgrounds, and many institutions may not be able to make up the lost grant money through fees.
Every government since the Robbins report has accepted the need to fund Higher Education for the national good. The Government is now turning away from this, and leaving the universities to operate as private sector organizations. The effects of this radical change to the way universities are financed have not been properly considered, but are being rushed into.
Many arts, humanities and social science courses will be entirely dependent upon fees income. The Government's lack of support for such courses suggests that they do not consider them important. This is a serious mistake, which will leave the country lacking in many of the skills it needs, and culturally impoverished.
The Government claims that it wishes to maintain the status of the country's universities as among the best in the world, and that it wishes to widen access, and improve social mobility. Their reforms will achieve none of this. I therefore urge you to vote against the Government on Thursday.
Yours sincerely,
Antony Keen
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