Muggles no more: Harry Potter studies comes of age This autumn Chestnut Hill College will host one of the world’s most unusual annual academic conferences By Jon Marcus 11 September
MIT Media Lab director quits over ‘hidden ties to Epstein’ Joi Ito alleged to have made extensive efforts to hide millions of dollars donated by sexual abuser By Paul Basken 9 September
Canadian universities earning more from fees than public purse Domestic students benefit for now as foreign classmates cancel out provincial budget cuts By Paul Basken 9 September
Michigan State accepts federal fine and fires provost over Nassar case University to pay $4.5 million (?3.7 million) and pursue further actions against culpable officials By Paul Basken 6 September
US Student Success Forum: universities urged to work with schools on access Wealthier institutions urged to take lead on improving minority representation By Paul Basken 6 September
Three failed replication attempts but no retraction for HIV study Science’s decision sparks debate about how journals should respond to concerns about reproducibility By Jack Grove 6 September
Many universities ‘going backwards’ on gender equality in science Decline in female representation reported at four in 10 institutions covered by study By Anna McKie 6 September
Students need to learn how trolls and bots stir up online divisions Critical thinking is not enough. Students must be taught dynamics of social media, say Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren By Darren Linvill 5 September
Making political interventions more effective Lennard Davis wonders whether activist academics have wrongly prioritised exuberantly bad behaviour over the hard graft of working for real change By Lennard Davis 5 September
WSJ/THE US College Rankings 2020: Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins rise Harvard tops student-focused ranking for fourth consecutive year By Ellie Bothwell 5 September
Tenure under threat as US university mulls department closures Financially troubled institution suggests senior faculty vulnerable By Paul Basken 4 September
Slavery reparations must deliver racial redress Universities must re-examine their efforts to atone for slavery by listening to those affected by racial injustice, says Linda Mann By Linda J. Mann 3 September