The University in the Twenty-first Century: A new constitution - and an ecological approach
OBS! The CHEF talk has been postponed
Date: June 16, 2020, 14.00-15.30
Venue: Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media, CUDiM, room 656, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 4, Building 1483, 8000 Aarhus C Also, it is possible to follow by video-link from DPU, Campus Emdrup, room D120, Tuborgvej 164, 2400 København NV
Speaker: Ronald Barnett, Emeritus Professor, Institute of Education, University College London, United Kingdom
Currently, universities are met with mistrust and a sense of their unworldly detachment. Typically, they respond in various ways:
- they proclaim that they are already much socially engaged
- they put work in to demonstrating their existing social contribution, pointing to concrete examples of their ‘civic’ or ‘global’ or ‘environmental’ outreach
- they pick up on a major idea - eg, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals - and actively work to shape their portfolio of activities in that light
There is, therefore, a very wide axis of responses on the part of universities, from defensive to active stances. However, they all lack a coherent and common frame on the basis of which a new relationship between universities and the wider society might be built.
In this talk, Ronald Barnett will urge the case for a social contract to be established as the fundamental plank of political and social policy in higher education. It would amount to a new constitution for universities. He gives the case substance by drawing on the idea of the ecological university, which is a university that is aware that it moves in multiple ecozones and deploys its resources in repairing and enhancing those ecozones.
Read more
|
CHEF Research Seminar: Academic wellbeing
Date: June 19, 2020, 14.00-16.00
Venue: Danish School of Education, Campus Emdrup, room D120, Tuborgvej 164, 2400 København NV Also, it is possible to follow by video-link from Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media, CUDiM, room 656, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 4, Building 1483, 8000 Aarhus C
Speakers: Sandra Acker, Professor Emerita, Department of Social Justice Education, University of Toronto, Canada Gina Wisker, Professor, Centre for Learning and Teaching, University of Brighton, United Kingdom
The title of Sandra Acker's presentation is ‘Academic well-being: does it mean going slow?’.
Sandra Acker’s presentation is about the fast professor, the alter ego of Berg and Seeber’s, 2016, Slow Professor, a book that reflects a growing Canadian and international interest in adapting a more considered and more humane pace of life to the world of academe. ‘Professor’ is used in the North American sense, as a synonym for ‘academic’ at any stage. In Canada, as elsewhere, academia has changed in important ways over recent decades, as neoliberal trends have altered the everyday working practices of academics, contributing to widespread anxiety and instability. One such trend is a growing expectation that academics will apply for and obtain external research funding. This expectation may be at odds with the availability and difficulty of acquiring such funding.
This talk draws on semi-structured, qualitative interviews conducted with 11 mid-career scholars in the field of Education in four universities in Ontario, Canada, and asks: How do mid-career Education scholars understand and respond to contemporary pressures around securing and carrying out externally funded research? The participants talk about getting funded; juggling time, life, and productivity; navigating hindrances and supports; and working all the time. While ‘slow’ appears to be a path to well-being, it is at best elusive and not simply a personal choice.
The title of Gina Wisker's presentation is ‘Wellbeing in doctoral education’.
Read more
|