Books: Academic Diary: Or Why Higher Education Still Matters

Les Back, a Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, has published insights into higher education in the form of a diary of the academic year. The diary consists of around 50 short essays that will be of interest to anyone involved in teaching students.

Targets, assessments, market forces, information overload, and audit are some of the challenges facing university educators. Among the many jewels are six tips for students: listen but don’t be silent; don’t make grades your only goal; read and buy books; don’t try to do it all the night before; don’t just be a consumer; and follow your interests.

Les Back describes lectures as monologues rather than dialogues and reminds us that even the most brilliant lecturers are all too human. He has a humorous take on ‘Death by PowerPoint’ and the entries on welcome week and open days are of relevance to the university setting.

Les Back’s humanity and ability to inspire students are apparent in the more personal entries, a favourite pen, the writer’s desk, and the ‘library angel’ being some of the themes. He is incisive in his criticism of conferences as places of self-promotion, and of ‘academic absenteeism’ as a hallmark of ‘being in demand’ (academics who are often away from their university attending conferences). He warns us of the dangers of specialisation and reflects on an editorial reviewing process that can be unnecessarily cruel at times.

He urges teachers and supervisors to have a receptive generosity and not to treat students as suspects. His diary ends with a useful list of tips, leads, and follow-ups including references to the work of some of his heroes, including Primo Levi and John Berger.

Academic Diary is a beautifully written resource of wisdom and humanity, and is a joy to dip into.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2017