How did I get from a Ph.D on the hermeneutics of Paul Ricœur and Max Weber to scheduling BBC One on a Saturday night or running tech businesses? I spent roughly ten years as a researcher and writer, ten at the BBC, ten running businesses, and in the last part of my career I hope…
I want to call attention to two myths which concern the employment of English graduates. The first concerns their supposedly forlorn chances in the job market, the second concerns how we imagine our relations with wider society and the economy. The idea that English graduates are derelicts in employment is annoyingly persistent. It’s also…
I am sure I am not the only academic who experiences discomfort when asked – at University functions, social events and even conferences – ‘So, what’s your field? What do youdo?’. At best the question invites answers which feel inadequate to all concerned; at worst it requires us to tie our thinking to a discipline,…
Jenny invited me to speak because of my unusual background. I’m not entirely sure how unusual it is, particularly in current company. Although I currently have a degree, MA and doctorate in English Literature, before embarking on the Humanities train, I did a professional course — I think roughly equivalent to a higher apprenticeship, higher…
Join us a screening of ‘H is for Harry’ at Phoenix Leicester + filmmaker Q&A Thursday 14th March 2019 @ 19:30 Tickets Available: https://www.phoenix.org.uk/film/h-is-for-harry/ H is for Harry is a coming of age story about Harry, a charismatic 11-year old boy, who arrives at secondary school in suburban London unable to read or write.…
On 18 January 2018, English in the World 1: From the Outside brought together 35 colleagues to look at what we do and how we do it from different perspectives outside the field. During a series of panel discussions, we explored common ground and identified some challenges of working together. We learned from existing partnerships and explored…
Michael Allen’s ‘An Embarrassing Profession: Geoffrey Hill’s Auden’ Samantha Purvis’ ‘Happiness and Experimentalism: on H(A)PPY and The Lesser Bohemians’ This year, in break with tradition, the judges wished to acknowledge both winners equally by awarding two first-place prizes. Both winners will receive a year’s membership of the English Association with a subscription…
The English Association was founded in 1906 with the aim of fostering knowledge, understanding and the enjoyment of the English language and its literatures, as well as good practice in teaching and learning at every level. It was granted a Royal Charter in 2006. The Association has 293 Fellows, senior figures who have made a…
English in the World 1: From the Outside 18 January 2019 There has never been a more exciting time to reach out beyond disciplinary boundaries, to discover new ways of working, and to enrich teaching and learning through partnerships both inside and outside Higher Education. Many of us have been working in this way for…