Our Vice-Chancellor

I am sure that much of the research is there in one form or another, but I am still surprised by how little has been made of the impact of universities on the cultural life of cities, regions, and nations, except in endless reports, prompted by the need to show universities’ mainly economic contribution to culture and the cultural industries.

I have just been reading Larissa MacFarquhar's very enjoyable account of the life and works of the British philosopher, Derek Parfit, in The New Yorker. No one can but be impressed by both Parfit’s resonant and adamantine body of work and – well – his utter single-mindedness.