Tagged: Academia

Are New Zealand’s universities doing enough to define the limits of academic freedom? - News

Guest Author • Nov 26, 2021 •

• Academia,
• academic freedom,
• misinformation,
• New Zealand stories,
• universities

Matheson Russell, University of Auckland   The news last week that University of Auckland public health researcher Simon Thornley was retracting a co-authored paper about supposed vaccination risks during pregnancy raised deeper questions about the limits of academic freedom. Thornley’s own head of department had called for the paper to be retracted due to “the anxiety it is creating … Read More

Indigenous scholars struggle to be heard in the mainstream. Here’s how journal editors and reviewers can help - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 12, 2021 •

• Academia,
• indigenous knowledge,
• New Zealand stories,
• research

Apisalome Movono, Massey University; Anna Carr; Emma Hughes, Massey University; Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia; Jeremy William Hapeta, Massey University; Regina Scheyvens, Massey University, and Rochelle Stewart-Withers, Massey University In the world of research and scholarship, being published in academic journals is crucial to both the advancement of knowledge and the careers of those involved. In particular, the peer … Read More

In praise of academic paternalism - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Jul 24, 2015 •

• Academia,
• economics,
• Seamus Hogan

I've used this week's New Zealand Initiative column at The NBR, in part, to pay a little tribute to Seamus, whose funeral is today. I start out in The NBR piece by critiquing the ever-trendy push to abandon the standard economic curriculum in favour of critical theory. Unfortunately, at least some higher-ups in NZ academia think it a grand idea. One might … Read More

Keeping The Conversation going - Ice Doctor

Victoria Metcalf • May 14, 2015 •

• Academia,
• academia,
• journalism,
• research,
• Science,
• Science Communication,
• science communication,
• The Conversation

Over the ditch there’s a little madness going on. The need for humans to converse with each other, to engage in conversation, is in a fashion under threat. That’s because the latest government budget announced includes a halt to the funding for the Australian media website initiative The … Read More

Snapshots of academic life - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Mar 29, 2015 •

• Academia

A friend with a young daughter emails the following transcript:(The daughter - almost age 4): “Mummy, quickly, I’m giving birth!” …. 5 dolls immediately arrive. “Ok, here they are. Now I’m going to a conference – can you look after them please?”  … Read More

Meta-IRB - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Mar 04, 2015 •

• Academia,
• ethics,
• fun

Here's a fun one for those of you still based at a university. All of you put together a Human Ethics Review proposal for a field experiment on Human Ethics Review proposals. Here is the proposal within my proposal. Each of you would propose putting together a panel of researchers at different universities. You would propose that each of your … Read More

Please review the ethics of human ethics review - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Mar 04, 2015 •

• Academia,
• censorship,
• complete nonsense,
• ethics

Human ethics review panels are the worst. Designed to prevent atrocities like Tuskegee, they then metastasised: any time your research could possibly involve a human subject, there are a billion forms to fill in. So it's usually easiest just to avoid doing field research.U Queensland's Paul Frijters didn't avoid doing field research. He sent actors out onto Brisbane buses with … Read More

Public intellectuals - The Dismal Science

Eric Crampton • Feb 24, 2015 •

• Academia,
• Christchurch Press

Philip Matthews at the Christchurch Press asked me for comment on the role of public intellectuals in New Zealand.He used a well-chosen excerpt from the email below. Here are the parts for which there wasn't room in last weekend's paper.“Public intellectuals have to be good academic all-rounders. The best ones combine deep specialist knowledge of their own research area … Read More

Rise of the rocurs - Ice Doctor

Victoria Metcalf • Jan 30, 2015 •

• Academia,
• Astrotweeps,
• Biotweeps,
• General science,
• Realscientists,
• rocur,
• Rotation curation,
• Science,
• Science Communication,
• Twitter

Rotation curation Twitter sites are rewarding both for curators and readers. Image source: http://www.epa.gov/win/winnews/images05/0510keyboard.gif via Wikimedia Commons. Happy New Year to everyone. Mine was actually spent not in the happiest way, listening to the revelry whilst desperately seeking sleep within the confines of a completely not soundproof tent in Kaikoura. Struck down with a nasty gastro bug for two … Read More

Getting all atwitter about science - Ice Doctor

Victoria Metcalf • Oct 17, 2014 •

• Academia,
• General science,
• nature of science,
• Science,
• Social media,
• teaching,
• Twitter

Image source: Wikimedia Commons uploaded by The Pink Group https://www.iconfinder.com/iconsets/social-media-icons-the-circle-set Recently the Minister of Education , Hon Hekia Parata, suggested introducing new assessments for Years 9 and 10 at school. The tone of the conversations on education in general I have been having in recent months with teachers leads me to … Read More