Although missing the first page of most news outlets outside of the England, today was the first of three weeks of strikes at 61 universities in the UK. That number includes Cambridge, Oxford, and Durham, and over a million students from all over the country. There has not been a strike of this magnitude in the history of UK higher education, and students, administrators, and faculty are preparing for major disruptions to the academic calendar. Exams may be called off or, as some fear, “dumbed down” due to the possibility of three weeks (or worst case, up to five months) of lost teaching days. [Read more…]