By Keith Vernon. In many other countries, it is much more common for students go to their nearest university, which often involves staying in the home town or city. But in England in particular, there is a strong historical precedent for going away to university.
A lot of this is based on the fact that until the 1830s, there were only two universities in England – Oxford and Cambridge. So if you wanted a university education, you had to go to these remote (to many) destinations – which developed a complex system of colleges and tutors to house and look after the undergraduates. More...

By Caroline Southey. We have removed an article about the history of maths from The Conversation site. The reason for this is that the editing procedures we normally follow were not adhered to in this instance. More...

By Tracey Banivanua Mar. Recent media coverage of Victory in the Pacific Day has highlighted the way Indigenous peoples of the Pacific remain invisible in our public memory of the Pacific War. We sometimes recall the deeds of the so-called “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” of Papua New Guinea. But the wider impact of war on Pacific Island worlds should also be part of our collective memory. More...

By Alice Gorman. Once upon a time, the story goes, the world was full of space for humans to expand into. The genus Homo radiated out from temperate Africa, colonising the tundras of Ice Age Europe, and the continents and islands of Asia and Australasia. More...

By Nicholas A.Ioannides. The Chagos Archipelago forms the British Indian Ocean Territory, one of the 14 British Overseas Territories. Although the archipelago was discovered by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century, France gained ownership of it after the Dutch abandoned it in the late 18th century. The UK only took possession of the islands as part of the Treaty of Paris after it captured Mauritius in 1810. More...

By Elizabeth Redden. Poland’s right-wing government has extended an investigation into a Princeton University-based Holocaust scholar who made the controversial claim that Poles killed more Jews than Germans during World War II, the Associated Press reported. Read more...

By Scott McLemee. This year’s quincentennial of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia coincides with an exceptionally spirit-blighting presidential election, making his work especially relevant, writes Scott McLemee. Read more...