I was part of a round-table session at Canvascon this week. One of the starter questions to the groups was ‘what do you remember about your time at university?’

Most of the answers volunteered seemed to centre the social; the people we met and the fun we had, rather than what we had been taught or learned.

My thoughts went to the people I met there who taught me to think differently.  Some of the faculty at University of Manchester in the early 1990’s had a big impact on me. They taught me how to think critically, and for myself. The big difference between school- where there is a set national curriculum and university – where the content and curriculum is shaped by individual teachers and researchers is that you ‘study with’ and ‘learn from’ people  who do not all think, or write about  history, politics and power in the same ways, or from the same position. There is no right or wrong way to view the world, only positionality.

I remember inspirational lectures which sent me to the ( John Rylands) library to learn more, and read widely. I remember small-group teaching where each of us challenged our peers and were called upon to develop robust defence of our positions. I came away from that university with a hermeneutic of suspicion I have carried with me for the rest of my life.

One of the people I remebered most was Professor Lou Kushnick.  I Googled him yesterday and was sad to learn he has died in 2025. He didn’t have a wikipedia page, so I have spent this afternoon writing one. Lou Kushnick – Wikipedia

I owe him a debt and a hot Ribena.