Colin Phillips

This is great ... and it feels like the seed for another series like Housing Week. Why can't the trains to Banbury run as often as the trains to Ely? Why (the heck) are different authorities handling the east and west sides of the station building? And so on.

Another department I work in uses letters very differently. They’re used as a source of often helpful “contextual data”. They’re rarely decisive for applicants who already have lots of advantages. But they often flag potential that might otherwise get overlooked. So, it matters how they’re used.

On further reflection, it makes a big difference how they’re used. One department I work in basically does a rough sentiment analysis on the letters and translates those vibes into a number for a scoring rubric. I think that’s a good use of letters at all!

My experience, from reading thousands of letters over nearly 30 years, in different countries, is that the vast majority of writers have integrity, and are not good at faking. Empty fluff certainly exists, but it is obvious to see, and easily ignored.

This seems to be a currently popular view. But it’s peer review. It’s what we use all the time in our professions. Why should it be uniquely ineffective when we are giving assessments of our students? Letters aren’t perfect. Nothing is. But they’re another useful tool.

We totally read the letters for applicants to our masters programmes. Some don’t know how to write informative letters. But the ones that do really help. We’re in a field where students come from very diverse backgrounds. That may make letters more useful.

What’s the status of the £7M in funding that your earlier article said would expire in March ‘25?

So, if there is a potential red flag that you think is explainable, that's where your external expertise is most helpful. E.g., it's pretty normal for people starting an electrophysiology lab to have a publication gap, due to long lead times. I'll often contextualize things like that.

In most cases, it doesn't much matter where the endorsement sits on the scale from positive to glowing. Committees don't take the average temperature of the external letters. They won't say, "All were positive, just not positive enough." They give most attention to potential red flags.

Two easy ways to make this point.

(1) Say they would get this promotion at your own institution, ideally with real life comps.

(2) Say "This person compares favorably to X and Y, who were recently promoted to this level at institutions A and B (which the candidate's institution sees as a peer).

Thanks for this thread! A couple of my own takes.

If it's a straightforward positive case, your job is just to provide one or two pull quotes for the summary report. No need to overcomplicate. Committees want evidence that disciplinary standards are upheld, relative to institutions they respect.

Seems like we have shared history as lapsed believers with close family ties to Christian rock music. Though I wouldn't pretend for a moment to be a hipster. Gotta compare notes some time.

It’s interesting how the university is trying to wring as much publicity from this as possible. But uprooting one’s life is hard. And few will be able to move. The real action may be in the decisions of younger, less established, more mobile scholars. Less flashy. Bigger long term impact.

More postdoc opportunities in Oxford! 3-year British Academy Fellowships, for start in 2026. For work in any area of linguistics. Expressions of Interest (brief!) for internal competition due July 28. www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/news/2025/06...

£10 million at £2/night amounts to 13,700 overnight stays per day, 365 days per year. That’s about 5 times the hotel inventory in Oxford. Something doesn’t add up.

Some of my younger colleagues stay in college rooms a couple of nights per week, as they can’t afford to live locally. Would they face a tourist tax?

You do great reporting at The Clarion. So why cite rankings based on dumb measures? “The 5 top attractions are close” doesn’t fit most people’s idea of “most walkable”. Oxford really is walkable. But not for that reason!

I tried out the County Council survey. A remarkably leading set of questions. If they are doing this to show that they are listening to residents, that plan might just backfire.

I *so* needed this for a talk that I gave earlier today!

Yet another open-rank position in language in Oxford! This one is in Applied Linguistics. You get to join Oxford's excellent Dept of Education, and also be my colleague at the fabulous @somervillecollege.bsky.social , which I cannot recommend too highly. Details: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

YouTube video by Colin Phillips Colin Phillips Inaugural Lecture, Oxford University

Finally sharing this video of my inaugural lecture, 1 year ago today. Such a treat to get to tell the story about things and people that I care about, with many of them in the audience. ... If I sound a bit rattled, that was due to the loud protest right outside.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM3-...

I recently returned to Europe after decades away. I meet a lot of people who have moved from the US. I think there’s more scope for success in recruiting younger scientists and grad students. But I am impressed by the adaptability that I see in academic migrants. Same as the migrants to the US.

Really excited that Devyani will soon be joining us in Oxford, strengthening connections between English and Linguistics.

www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/news/2025/05...

Interested in spending a couple of years in Oxford as a Marie Curie postdoc? It's a great environment to develop your research career (and a wonderful place to live). Expressions of interest due June 2nd. Contact potential mentors now. Details: www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/marie-sklodo...

Nice pictures! I was enjoying the sound of the band from my rear deck!

Come join us in Oxford as we move into our new home in the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities (opening Oct '25). We are looking to fill THREE fixed-term lecturer positions: in Semantics/Pragmatics, Psycholinguistics, and Linguistics with French. www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/news/2025/05...

You are so right about the contrast. I always assumed it was the different media landscapes. A UK politician has no option to not speak to the BBC (or Sky). It's no big deal if a US politician stops talking to one of the countless media outlets. So the media has less leverage.

Wouldn't this be a bit non-targeted for a city where the vast majority of tourism is day-trippers, and where the scarcity of overnight accommodation puts pressure on housing prices for all residents?

It’s no accident that so many UMD language scientists have won these awards over the years. As they say, culture eats policy for breakfast. Also, Rachel is the BEST. So well deserved.

It’s an open goal. And yet they/we might miss it. 🤦‍♂️