Could Distributed Peer Review Better Decide Grant Funding?
The landscape of academic grant funding is notoriously competitive and plagued by lengthy, bureaucratic processes, exacerbated by difficulties in finding willing reviewers. Distributed […]
On Taking Long COVID Seriously
Examining how long COVID is viewed by some doctors as psychosomatic, Steven Lubet argues that condescension in the name of compassion is no way to build trust.
Traditional Chinese Medicine and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Studies of medicine in China must not neglect Chinese medicine, writes medical sociologist Robert Dingwall..
With COVID and Climate Change Showing Social Science’s Value, Why Cut it Now?
What are the three biggest challenges Australia faces in the next five to ten years? What role will the social sciences play in resolving these challenges? The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia asked these questions in a discussion paper earlier this year. The backdrop to this review is cuts to social science disciplines around the country, with teaching taking priority over research.
Is the Sunk Cost Fallacy ‘First Doing Harm’ in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
In the United States, government health agencies consider chronic fatigue syndrome as “a serious, chronic, complex, and multisystem disease,” rather than a psychological condition. That view is is not held everywhere.
COVID Science and Politics – the Case of Face Masks
A troubling turn in the public policy management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the increasing tendency to justify interventions by assertions […]
COVID Variants – Time to Stop Jumping at Shadows
When variant forms of COVID appear, argues Robert Dingwall, we must, then, learn not to jump at shadows. No-one can ever say there will never be a risk – but everyday life is full of much more common risks that we tolerate because of the benefits that they deliver.
Academic Freedom and University Relevance: A View from Australia
Academic freedom is widely championed as the foundation of a good university. It is seen as vital in speaking “truth to power” – […]
Online Teaching, Campus Design Upgrades and Institutional Changes
The times they are a-changin’ for higher education. Or so say a growing number of commentators. They see COVID-19 disruptions as a […]
