John F. Allen's Blog at jfallen.org

16th October 2015

CDBU Public Lecture by Thomas Docherty

Filed under: About science,About universities,Diary — John Allen @ 1:54 pm
Thomas Docherty, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Warwick, and Anne Sheppard, Professor of Ancient Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Thomas Docherty, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Warwick, and Anne Sheppard, Professor of Ancient Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Thomas Docherty’s lecture on “Academic Freedom and the Social Responsibility of the University Institution” took place on 14 October 2015, at Royal Holloway, University of London. The poster advertised what amounted to a stimulating account of the necessity of academic freedom for any institution that qualifies, in my view, for the name “university”. Thomas also described current attacks on academic freedom, possible motives behind them, and their dire consequences for teaching and research.

I joined the Council for the Defence of British Universities on day one. It seemed, and still seems, to embody pretty well all the values whose implementation make universities essential to the maintenance of a free society. Last year I asked here What do universities actually do?

To my knowledge, those working at “change management” in UK universities have no answer. If we could inspect alternative aims and objectives then it might be possible to understand what exactly those currently on the rise are trying to achieve, thus to engage with them in useful dialogue. Thomas’s thesis, as I understood it, is that the aim of managerialism is precisely to prevent dialogue, and thus to silence dissent. Is there is an ulterior motive to that, or is the whole mess an unintended consequence of control having been acquired in some way by individuals averse to criticism, and hostile to public knowledge and social responsibility?

4th October 2015

“Photosynthesis Research for Sustainability – 2015” in honor of Dr. George C. Papageorgiou

Filed under: About science,Diary — John Allen @ 11:27 am

An International conference “Photosynthesis Research for Sustainability” held in Colymbari on September 21 – 26 at the Orthodox Academy of Crete.

I thank the organisers, especially Kostas Stamatakis of the National Center of Scientific Research “Demokritos”, Athens, who were most generous hosts. Merope Tsimilli-Michael kindly encouraged me to present new research and general thoughts under the title “Evolution of two light reactions. Cooperation and interdependency in photosynthesis, science, and society”. Allen’s abstract

My presentation touched briefly on the general topic of Merope’s fine lecture “Sustainability of photosynthesis research”. Tsimilli-Michael’s abstract

Merope Tsimilli-Michael

Merope Tsimilli-Michael

Tasios Melis and George Papageorgiou

Tasios Melis and George Papageorgiou

View from the The Orthodox Academy of Crete

View from the The Orthodox Academy of Crete

1st October 2015

2015 Nobel Prize in Physics

Filed under: About science,Diary,Nobel Prize announcements — John Allen @ 4:27 pm



2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Filed under: About science,Diary,Nobel Prize announcements — John Allen @ 4:27 pm



2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Filed under: About science,Diary,Nobel Prize announcements — John Allen @ 4:25 pm



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