Academic Diary: Or Why Higher Education Still Matters

273 Pages·2016·1.486 MB·English

by  Les Back

‘This book is like having an academic mentor in your pocket. It is
a book that will stay with you, ready to be pulled off a shelf or out
of a bag at a moment’s notice. You can dip into it any time a little
guidance is needed or when you need to be reminded of what you
are doing or why you are doing it. Les’ book offers a steadying, sup-
portive and reassuring voice in the chaos. Compassion and vitality
spring from the pages, fostering an enduring spring of solidarity in
the reader. I would go as far as saying that all academics should
make sure that they have a copy to hand.’
David Beer, Reader in Sociology, University of York
‘When discussions of higher education in England are dominated by
loans and questions of finance, it’s all too easy to forget about the
lived, transformative experience of education. Episodes in Academic
Diary serve as healthy reminders of what ought to be central to uni-
versities and colleges: learning. More than that, Les Back’s generosity
and collegiality forge the politics of this book into something distinct.
Walter Benjamin wrote in his commentaries on Bertolt Brecht:
“Whoever wants to make the hard thing give way should miss no op-
portunity for friendliness.” In a similar spirit, Academic Diary tempers
sentiment with critical aims.’
Andrew McGettigan, author of The Great University Gamble:
Money, Markets and the Future of Higher Education
‘Inaugurating the exciting arrival of Goldsmiths Press, Les Back’s
Academic Diary reminds us of the exigency of writing large the small
and intricate matters of the academy now. At once a comforting
and challenging read, I only hope that Back’s example will inspire
yet more loving experimentation in listening and being heard; and
more courageous presses ready to take up the challenge of carrying
diverse intellectual voices.’
Elspeth Probyn, Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies,
University of Sydney

‘Against the cynicism and despair of so much discourse on the
contemporary university, here is a beautifully-written book, full of
reflection and reverie, decency and front-line documentation, that
addresses the challenges of teaching in an increasingly market-orient-
ed profession, but also celebrates the persistent mysteries, necessary
anarchy and – yes – pleasures of the classroom.’
Sukhdev Sandhu, Director of the Colloquium for Unpopular
Culture, New York University
‘Just when you might have thought that a combination of Gradgrind
assessment, bullying managerialism, and crass marketization had
ripped the heart and soul out of British higher education, along
comes the admirable Les Back with this profoundly humanistic
account of the unexpected and often fleeting day-to-day pleasures of
working in a contemporary university.
Whether he is discussing the plight of increasingly indebted stu-
dents or the unacknowledged endeavours of the non-academic staff
who make universities work or the tribulations of overseas students
attempting to overcome the indignities of ever-harsher border con-
trols, Back displays a generosity of spirit and an alertness to the pulse
and feel of everyday life outside the campus gates which stands in
stark contrast to the mean-minded individualistic scholasticism that
is rapidly becoming the signature mark of the modern academic.’
Laurie Taylor, Broadcaster and former Professor of Sociology,
University of York
Les Back is Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of Lon-
don. He received a PhD in Social Anthropology from Goldsmiths
and taught previously at the Department of Cultural Studies, Uni-
versity of Birmingham. His books include The Art of Listening and
The Auditory Culture Reader (with Michael Bull) and The Changing
Face of Football: Racism, Identity and Multiculture in the English Game
(with Tim Crabbe and John Solomos). He writes journalism and has
made documentary films and lives in south London.

Academic Diary
Or Why Higher Education
Still Matters
Les Back
Published in 2016
by Goldsmiths Press
Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross
London SE14 6NW
Printed and bound
by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
Distribution by The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England
Copyright © 2016 Les Back
The right of Les Back to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted In memory of
by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 in the Copyright, Designs and
David Finch
Patents Act 1988.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed
or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles
and review and certain non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
A CIP record for this book
is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-906-89758-1 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-906-89757-4 (ebk)
www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-press
In memory of
David Finch

Contents
Introduction: Academic Time 1
Autumn Term
10 September: Graduation 7
15 September: Everyone Has a Teacher Story 13
17 September: Letter to a New Student 17
20 September: Welcome Week 25
25 September: Goldsmiths and its District 26
27 September: Ratology 29
28 September: Students Not Suspects 32
7 October: Open Day 37
12 October: Stuart Hall Lessons 40
25 October: Teaching 46
31 October: The Uses of Literacy Today 53
5 November: Death by PowerPoint 59
8 November: The Value in Academic Writing 62
20 November: Research Expenses 65
27 November: Extra Curricular 68
29 November: College Green 70
3 December: Meeting John Berger 72
9 December: An Education of Sorts 77
10 December: Class Mobility 79
17 December: Bourdieu Behind Bars 83
29 December: New Year’s Honours 87
IX