INVITATION. friday lecture, 20th Jan.2012, 13:00-14:30 Uhr, CTL, University of Vienna
Prof. Dr. RON BARNETT, University of London
"Believing in the University"
ABSTRACT
Can we any longer, should we any longer, believe in the university? To believe in the university in part implies an attachment to at least an idea of the University, if not the idea of the University. In other words, belief in the university implies – at a deep level – a sense that the concept of the university retains some substance. However, it could be said that the present age is marked precisely by a thinning of concepts. Concepts proliferate but they are rarely worked through and so tend either to endorse the dominant ideologies of the age – especially of markets and entrepreneurialism – or they contest the dominant ideologies but hold out illusory images. The University is implicated in this situation. The very idea of the University itself thins and even threatens to dissolve, as each ‘university’ is challenged to identify its own mission. In the process, the connection between ideas of the ‘University’ and the idea of ‘universality’ is lost as the university becomes excessively parochial, attending to its own impact on its region and favouring particular epistemologies. Against these reflections, the questions in front of us are clear but profound: to what extent can the University be associated with the largest possible ideas – of truth, of knowledge, of dialogue, of human being and of societal wellbeing? To what extent is there still space for the University to articulate creative but realisable concepts that are critical of the dominant concepts of the age? Is any kind of universality still available to the University? Is it still possible to believe in the idea of the University? I shall argue for just that possibility.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Ronald Barnett is Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. He is an internationally recognized authority on the conceptual and theoretical understanding of the university and higher education. He has held senior positions at the Institute of Education, including that of Pro-Director for Longer Term Strategy and was also, for seven years, a Dean. He is a past Chair of the Society for Research into Higher Education, and has recently served as a Special Adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee Inquiry into Universities and Students. He is a Fellow both of the Higher Education Academy and the Society for Research into Higher Education and is currently Senior Research Consultant at the University of Surrey. He has been awarded a higher doctorate of the University of London and was the recipient of the inaugural ‘Distinguished Researcher’ prize of the European Association for Institutional Research (EAIR). He has been a keynote speaker in over 30 countries across the world.
http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/RonBarnettCV.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvdtrYbPcHQ
SELECTED BOOK PUBLICATIONS
Barnett, Ronald (2012): The Future University: Ideas and Possibilities (International Studies in Higher Education). Routledge
Barnett, Ronald (2011): Being a University. Routledge.
Barnett, Ronald (2007): A Will to Learn: Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty. McGraw-Hill/ Open University Press
Barnett, Ronald (2003): Beyond All Reason: Living with Ideology in the University (Open University Press)
Barnett, Ronald (2000): Realizing the University in an Age of Supercomplexity (Open University Press) Awarded ‘Highly Recommended’ prize, Society for Educational Studies. Spanish edition also published.
http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/documents/RonBarnettPubs.pdf
DATE: Friday, 20th Jan. 2012, 13:00 to 14:30 Uhr
VENUE. Center for Teaching and Learning / CTL, Universität Wien, Porzellang. 33a (Eingang Fürstengasse), 1090 Wien
RESPONSE: Univ.-Prof. Dr. GERLINDE MAUTNER, Vienna University of Economics and Business
MODERATION: Dr. REGINA PÖLL, Die Presse
VIDEOINTERVIEW mit Prof. Barnett: BENJAMIN MAYR, Student, University of Vienna
CONCEPT AND ORGANISATION friday lectures: Dr.Brigitte Kossek, CTL, Universität Wien
FURTHER INFORMATION: http://ctl.univie.ac.at/friday-lectures
We are looking forward to seeing you!
kind regards,
Brigitte Kossek
--
Dr.in Brigitte Kossek
Center for Teaching and Learning / CTL
Universität Wien
Porzellangasse 33a
A-1090 Wien
E-Mail: brigitte.kossek@univie.ac.at
T: + 43-1-4277-12056
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http://ctl.univie.ac.at/friday-lectures
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