Students told Neil Thin is not teaching after he was removed from course Learn page

During an announcement in this week’s lecture, students on the Imagining Anthropological Research course have now been told that Neil Thin is not teaching on their course.

Instead, old lecture slides made by him for the third year anthropology dissertation prep course were uploaded and his name was mistakenly copied over from the old Learn page.

However, it remains unclear if he was supposed to be teaching on the course (and removed last minute) or not. Thin admitted to us that he himself did not know and a spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh said: “nothing has yet been confirmed in terms of [Thin’s] role for the semester”.

But students on the course are unhappy with the fiasco, with one telling us they thought it was “another example of the disorganisation and lack of effort put in by the university”.

Thin’s name was deleted from the Learn page earlier this week

The Edinburgh Tab had previously reported that Thin would be returning to teaching after students on the Imagining Anthropological Research course (a compulsory third year anthropology module) saw his name on the course Learn page and on lecture slides.

One students on the course described this as “awful” as Thin has been investigated for biased marking – before being cleared by the uni. This happened after “racist and sexist” tweets surfaced and anti-racism group BlackED asked students of colour to share their experiences of being taught by Thin.

Several anthropology students then complained to the department about his conduct and Thin voluntarily stepped down from teaching and marking.

On his potential return to campus, Thin told us he wanted a “a more considerate and convivial campus after a devastating couple of years”.

He had previously convened and taught on Imagining Anthropological Research for three years. When we asked him if he was supposed to be returning for a fourth year he told us: “I genuinely don’t know the answer to your question”.

Thin then added: “sometimes late changes are made, and sometimes online information about courses is updated late”.

Students on the course have complained that this shows the uni aren’t delivering quality online lectures as promised.

One told us: “This is just another example of the disorganisation and lack of effort put in by the university, and it’s really disheartening. We’re paying thousands of pounds for online lectures that are seemingly recycled material with no real thought or effort put into the delivery.”

When we put this to the University of Edinburgh, a spokesperson told us: “We are currently delivering a mix of in-person and digital teaching for the academic year. The exact balance will depend on school arrangements and their ability to hold in-person teaching.

“For most activities involving more than 50 people, teaching will be online. Online teaching will often be delivered in real-time. However schools may use recordings of lectures from previous semesters when necessary. This may be due to issues such as staff availability or due to particular course content.”

Recommended related articles by this writer

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