Tag Archives: university

Royal family advisor also offers careers advice and cares for a new baby (Rousse)

Queen Consort Camilla was easily pleased with packs and packs of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes. Prince Philip (not dead) was a more tricky customer. He suddenly remembered a family that lived on a remote ranch in the mid-west of the United … Continue reading →

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A Sheffield cult and Sunderland snobbery (Rousse)

All that was left of TPR was his black hand-knitted jumper. It was almost as if he had shed this – his ‘shell’ – as his final act before his disappearance. The only clue to TPR’s whereabouts was a last … Continue reading →

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Boxes and foxes (Rousse)

KH handed me a small white box with a promise that he would explain the contents just as soon as he had checked the pan on the stove in the kitchen. When he failed to return, I popped the box … Continue reading →

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Life as a Victorian student (Belle)

I had made it to Oxford University! I couldn’t remember how this had happened – or what I was ‘reading’ – or why I had travelled back in time to the 1890s, or when I had become a 20-year old … Continue reading →

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Wedding speaker shamed (Rousse)

VAE stood up from her pew seat, marched over to the speaker, and admonished him in front of the whole congregation: ‘This is a wedding of a couple very much in love. It is customary to speak about them during … Continue reading →

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Parking scam at the University of Edinburgh (Rousse)

Bold as brass, TPR pulled into a ‘visitors only’ parking space outside Edinburgh University’s Informatics building. A parking warden immediately scurried over to us to ask about the nature of our visit. TPR guessed at the name of a host … Continue reading →

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University fees scrapped for state-educated students (Rousse)

The University of Birmingham revealed the institution’s innovative widening access policy at the launch of a spanking new hall of residence. All incoming students who had attended state schools would no longer be liable for fees. Those privately educated, however, … Continue reading →

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Traitors, faithfuls, and the University of Birmingham Ballroom Dancing Society (Rousse)

Playing a traitor was not as easy as it looked, especially when the other two insisted on tailing me as I wandered around the building. We spent so much time apart from the others that when I asked a prominent … Continue reading →

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REF cheats (Rousse)

I started to write my report about the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in pink ink along the top of the low wall. My source material was a huge A4 binder bulging with print-outs and notes from 2021. I left my … Continue reading →

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A catering crisis on campus and a corpse (Rousse)

Keen to make a mark in her new role, the recently-appointed professor organised a one-day networking event on campus. I agreed to come along to support this short, dark-haired woman, and offered to bring a dish for the evening meal. … Continue reading →

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