I started blogging when I was associate dean, education, in the college of humanities at Exeter. The fruits of those years – the ‘Education Matters‘ blog – are still there. My current role, as head of one of the UK’s biggest English departments, gives me the opportunity to range more widely over matters of interest in the department, the discipline, the humanities, and the higher education sector as a whole.
I don’t set out with any particular agenda, nor any set of allegiances; I just aim to bring some matters that seem important to the attention of colleagues (at Exeter and beyond), and reflect on them as I see fit. The blog gives me the opportunity to sound off about stuff that interests me, but I haven’t often got much hope of changing. It’s voice without responsibility.
When I’m not writing blog-posts or muddling about in middle management, I’m generally busy with my wonderful research (and impact-oriented) projects: ‘The Stuart Successions Project’, ‘Stuarts Online’, ‘The Poly-Olbion Project’, and ‘The Children’s Poly-Olbion‘.
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[ex-] HEAD OF DEPARTMENT’S BLOG 