Back in 2017, as a team we started talking of developing a forum where we can write about ideas, which we had run out of time to discuss in class or wanted to raise in addition to what we do.  The first of our entries was called “Reflections from a Pilot” and it was all about the prison module we were running.  Since then, all colleagues, many students, graduates and esteemed fellows have contributed to our blog, bringing a variety of perspectives and opinions.  The bulk of the reflections are mostly focused on the discipline of Criminology but there are several others that explore wider educational issues, social situations, and cultural commentary.  This alone demonstrates the variety and extent that our discipline can go into inspiring people who have been given the criminological gaze.

700 blog posts later and we are still going strong.  As a team we have seen, Brexit, the relocation to a new campus, a global pandemic, war in Europe, environmental issues and many more.  We have commented on crimes and criminalities, cultural conventions, and wider social issues.  Our students and graduates brought in their reflections from the challenges on studying to presenting their own research and criminological interests.  One of our esteemed colleagues Dr Steve O’Brien blogged about the Hillsborough disaster drawing the connections between sports, policing, and criminology.  An interesting juxtaposition, but not unique when it comes to criminology. 

We produced several posts that followed the academic year, from welcome week to exams and graduation, whilst we simultaneously posed questions about content and material that we thought our students and readers outside of our campus will find interesting.  Our objective was to instigate conversations, to inform and to motivate. We have received emails, comments and we have started conversations based on the topics we introduced.  Our blog entries have reflected on the life changes colleagues and students have gone through, with the most notable the pandemic, when we tried to make sense of it and keep our spirits up for the team and the people around us.  Teams in academia change, form, reform, group, regroup but regardless of that we continue “to keep calm and carry on”.  That is the nature of academia!  The continued strive for improvement is one of those traits that are so underrated.   

Overall, the initial concept of sharing ideas was surpassed by the variety of use we have for the blog.  We have found many different creative ways, including posts from our book club, reflections on movies, whilst we also managing to attract guest authors who provide some excellent insight like our travelling blogger Diepiriye or our social commentator Tré who brought in some cultural paradigms to the blog.  The blog became a collective noticeboard of ideas that demonstrated the diversity and reach of the discipline of Criminology.  In an ever-changing world we feel proud that we raise the flag for issues regarding social justice, equality, education.  We took our personal experiences and expertise and put them in a context for our wider academic community but also for anyone who is interested in what we have to say.  We would like to thank all those who took the time to read our blogs.  Some of you are avid readers and we thank you; to our contributors past and present for your insight and to the people who shared our stories our gratitude for increasing the extent of our readership.  From a few people at the beginning, we have become a blog with a readership of over 10K.  We are delighted and we raise our virtual glass to all!  7 years went through so quickly, so here’s for the next 7 years and beyond!  -Spoiler alert- Next year the team will be celebrating our Silver Jubilee so keep reading as more interesting blogs are to come!