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The Universities of the Italian Renaissance
by Paul F. GrendlerItalian Renaissance universities were Europe's intellectual leaders in humanistic studies, law, medicine, philosophy, and science. Employing some of the foremost scholars of the time—including Pietro Pomponazzi, Andreas Vesalius, and Galileo Galilei—the Italian Renaissance university was the prototype of today's research university. This is the first book in any language to offer a comprehensive study of this most influential institution.In this magisterial study, noted scholar Paul F. Grendler offers a detailed and authoritative account of the universities of Renaissance Italy. Beginning with brief narratives of the origins and development of each university, Grendler explores such topics as the number of professors and their distribution by discipline, student enrollment (some estimates are the first attempted), famous faculty members, budget and salaries, and relations with civil authority. He discusses the timetable of lectures, student living, foreign students, the road to the doctorate, and the impact of the Counter Reformation. He shows in detail how humanism changed research and teaching, producing the medical Renaissance of anatomy and medical botany, new approaches to Aristotle, and mathematical innovation. Universities responded by creating new professorships and suppressing older ones. The book concludes with the decline of Italian universities, as internal abuses and external threats—including increased student violence and competition from religious schools—ended Italy's educational leadership in the seventeenth century.
Universities on Fire: Higher Education in the Climate Crisis
by Bryan AlexanderScientists agree that we are on the precipice of a global climate crisis. How will it transform colleges and universities?In 2019, intense fires in the San Francisco Bay Area closed universities and drove afflicted people to shelter at other campuses. At the same time, extraordinary fires ravaged eastern Australia. Several universities responded by promising material and research support to damaged businesses while also hosting refugees and emergency response teams in student residence halls. This was an echo of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on Tulane University in 2005.In Universities on Fire, futurist Bryan Alexander explores higher education during an age of unfolding climate crisis. Powered by real-world examples and the latest research, Alexander assesses practical responses and strategies by surveying contemporary programs and academic climate research from around the world. He establishes a model of how academic institutions may respond and offers practical pathways forward for higher education. How will the two main purposes of education—teaching and research—change as the world heats up? Alexander positions colleges and universities in the broader social world, from town-gown relationships to connections between how campuses and civilization as a whole respond to this epochal threat.Current studies of climate change trace the likely implications across a range of domains, from agriculture to policy, urban design, technology, culture, and human psychology. However, few books have predicted or studied the effects of the climate crisis on colleges and universities. By connecting climate research to a deep, futures-informed analysis of academia, Universities on Fire explores how climate change will fundamentally reshape higher education.
Universities on Fire: Higher Education in the Climate Crisis
by Bryan AlexanderScientists agree that we are on the precipice of a global climate crisis. How will it transform colleges and universities?In 2019, intense fires in the San Francisco Bay Area closed universities and drove afflicted people to shelter at other campuses. At the same time, extraordinary fires ravaged eastern Australia. Several universities responded by promising material and research support to damaged businesses while also hosting refugees and emergency response teams in student residence halls. This was an echo of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on Tulane University in 2005.In Universities on Fire, futurist Bryan Alexander explores higher education during an age of unfolding climate crisis. Powered by real-world examples and the latest research, Alexander assesses practical responses and strategies by surveying contemporary programs and academic climate research from around the world. He establishes a model of how academic institutions may respond and offers practical pathways forward for higher education. How will the two main purposes of education—teaching and research—change as the world heats up? Alexander positions colleges and universities in the broader social world, from town-gown relationships to connections between how campuses and civilization as a whole respond to this epochal threat.Current studies of climate change trace the likely implications across a range of domains, from agriculture to policy, urban design, technology, culture, and human psychology. However, few books have predicted or studied the effects of the climate crisis on colleges and universities. By connecting climate research to a deep, futures-informed analysis of academia, Universities on Fire explores how climate change will fundamentally reshape higher education.
Universities, Rankings and the Dynamics of Global Higher Education: Perspectives from Asia, Europe and North America
by Hans Peter HertigGlobal university rankings are now more than a decade old and this book uses the data they have produced to examine how the international landscape of universities has changed over the years. It offers new insights into the power and limits of league tables, a key element of globalized higher education that can be deplored but hardly ignored. Case studies from Asia, Europe and North America are explored to highlight the issues raised by a quantitative exercise that decontextualizes what is linked so strongly to local factors.
Universities, Stakeholders and Social Mission: Building Cooperation Through Action Research (Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society)
by Ewa Bogacz-Wojtanowska Piotr Jedynak Sylwia Wrona Anna PluszyńskaToday's universities are confronted with questions about the increasing scale of corporatisation and commercialisation, as well as their decreasing activity in the field of the social mission, i.e., engagement in the real problems of ordinary people, local communities and society at large. As a remedy for this problem, this book proposes using action research as a means of shaping collaboration between universities and their stakeholders, taking into account related benefits, opportunities and challenges. In this context, we understand action research somewhat more broadly, as universities’ conducting useful research that becomes a domain of their social mission. The core message of this volume is the development of a cooperation process in which the university leaves its "ivory tower," builds relationships with its stakeholders and, as a result, engages more effectively in social life. In this book, readers will find an original perspective on action research, the application of which enables mutual benefits for universities and their stakeholders. It presents the authors’ original model of cooperation based on the AR approach and concrete examples of successful cooperation between universities and their stakeholders. Step by step, it illustrates how to initiate cooperation, conduct useful scientific research and together with stakeholders bring about changes in social life. This book will be of value to university managers, academics, students of social, management and economic sciences, as well as managers and specialists employed in organisations from various sectors that may be interested in cooperation with universities.
Universities, Stakeholders and Social Mission: Building Cooperation Through Action Research (Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society)
by Ewa Bogacz-Wojtanowska Piotr Jedynak Sylwia Wrona Anna PluszyńskaToday's universities are confronted with questions about the increasing scale of corporatisation and commercialisation, as well as their decreasing activity in the field of the social mission, i.e., engagement in the real problems of ordinary people, local communities and society at large. As a remedy for this problem, this book proposes using action research as a means of shaping collaboration between universities and their stakeholders, taking into account related benefits, opportunities and challenges. In this context, we understand action research somewhat more broadly, as universities’ conducting useful research that becomes a domain of their social mission. The core message of this volume is the development of a cooperation process in which the university leaves its "ivory tower," builds relationships with its stakeholders and, as a result, engages more effectively in social life. In this book, readers will find an original perspective on action research, the application of which enables mutual benefits for universities and their stakeholders. It presents the authors’ original model of cooperation based on the AR approach and concrete examples of successful cooperation between universities and their stakeholders. Step by step, it illustrates how to initiate cooperation, conduct useful scientific research and together with stakeholders bring about changes in social life. This book will be of value to university managers, academics, students of social, management and economic sciences, as well as managers and specialists employed in organisations from various sectors that may be interested in cooperation with universities.
Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (World Sustainability Series)
by Walter Leal Filho Amanda Lange Salvia Luciana Brandli Ulisses M. Azeiteiro Rudi PretoriusIn order to yield the expected benefits, sustainability initiatives need to be undertaken by means of a close cooperation between universities on the one hand, and societal partners on the others. The principle of co-creation and co-execution of sustainability initiatives increases the value for all by mutual learning, and the sharing of expertise and resources. But pursuing sustainability initiatives with a community and societal involvement is not simple. There is a perceived need for a better understanding of how universities can interact with society, in order to support the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This book is an attempt to address this need, by a novel approach which focuses on current potentials and challenges, across a wide range of fields and expertise. The book focuses on how the theory and practice of sustainable development interact and shows the need for a continuation of the dialogue among sustainability academics and practitioners, so as to address the issues, matters and problems at hand. The spectrum of themes addressed on this book also entails how environmental values and ethics are applied and the relationship between social, biological and cultural diversity. It also includes a broad disciplinary approach to sustainability, including education, research and case studies, and the links with human–environment relations in a sustainable development context.
Universities, the Citizen Scholar and the Future of Higher Education (Palgrave Critical University Studies)
by David J. Hornsby James ArvanitakisThe future of higher education is in question as universities struggle to remain relevant to the present and future needs of society. The context in which learning occurs is rapidly changing and those engaged and interested in the place and position of university education need to figure out to adapt. This book embodies a vision for higher education where graduate attributes and proficiencies are at the core of the academic project, where degree programs move beyond disciplinary content and where students are encouraged to be Citizen Scholars. Through a series of cross-disciplinary and contextual cases, the contributors to this book articulate how this vision can be achieved in our pedagogical environments, future proofing higher education.
Universities Under Fire: Hostile Discourses and Integrity Deficits in Higher Education (Palgrave Critical University Studies)
by Steven JonesThis book explores the ways in which the contemporary university is talked about, and talks about itself. Focusing on English higher education, Jones documents how an under-confident sector internalised the language and logic of government policy, and individual institutions then set about normalising competition and gaming short-term advantage at the expense of collectively serving a common good. A flawed marketisation project was attended and sustained by hostile discourses, with purportedly woke universities becoming a soft target for right-leaning politicians and media commentators, and campuses reluctant battlefields for manufactured culture wars. Within this context, integrity deficits soon arose: universities bragged about diversity and social responsibility without commensurate action; global ambitions went unmatched by local accountability; senior management grew more distant and self-rewarding as contractual precarity increased for frontline staff. Jones does not call for a return to any golden age of academic self-rule. Rather, he warns that without self-assured new stories, firmly underpinned by more transparent and moral forms of governance, universities risk further compromising their standing as trusted public institutions at the very moment they are needed most.
Universities under Neoliberalism: Ideologies, Discourses and Management Practices (Routledge Advances in Management Learning and Education)
by Mats Benner Mikael HolmqvistThe COVID-19 pandemic, the surge of populism, the climate crisis and many other destabilizing factors in our time, all point at the expectation of trustworthy knowledge and reliable organization devoted to knowledge production and dissemination. However, universities remain enmeshed in economic liberalization and ensuing cultural struggles where their funding, governance and practices reflect market imprints – even academic ideals such as originality, or social ideals such as relevance have been transformed into measurable units and thereby risk losing their historical sway. This predicament is the focus of this book. The book explores the rise of neo-liberalization in academic system in a highly unlikely place: Sweden, a country with a strong social democratic tradition and a long history of state regulation of higher education. As an advanced welfare state with a powerful labour movement and a large public sector, market ideals and practices have been carefully curtailed historically. This notwithstanding, a neoliberal university model has evolved there, reshaping notions of academic identities, institutional directions and notions of quality. This edited collection will be of value to researchers, academics and students with an interest in organizational studies, governance, management, higher education, sociology and politics.
Universities under Neoliberalism: Ideologies, Discourses and Management Practices (Routledge Advances in Management Learning and Education)
The COVID-19 pandemic, the surge of populism, the climate crisis and many other destabilizing factors in our time, all point at the expectation of trustworthy knowledge and reliable organization devoted to knowledge production and dissemination. However, universities remain enmeshed in economic liberalization and ensuing cultural struggles where their funding, governance and practices reflect market imprints – even academic ideals such as originality, or social ideals such as relevance have been transformed into measurable units and thereby risk losing their historical sway. This predicament is the focus of this book. The book explores the rise of neo-liberalization in academic system in a highly unlikely place: Sweden, a country with a strong social democratic tradition and a long history of state regulation of higher education. As an advanced welfare state with a powerful labour movement and a large public sector, market ideals and practices have been carefully curtailed historically. This notwithstanding, a neoliberal university model has evolved there, reshaping notions of academic identities, institutional directions and notions of quality. This edited collection will be of value to researchers, academics and students with an interest in organizational studies, governance, management, higher education, sociology and politics.
The Universities We Need: Higher Education After Dearing
by Nigel Blake Richard Smith Paul StandishThis work challenges some of the assumptions behind recent thinking on lifelong learning and discusses the idea of the learning society through a reappraisal of the relationship between the university and the community. It reconsiders the demand for efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.
The Universities We Need: Higher Education After Dearing
by Nigel Blake Richard Smith Paul StandishThis work challenges some of the assumptions behind recent thinking on lifelong learning and discusses the idea of the learning society through a reappraisal of the relationship between the university and the community. It reconsiders the demand for efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.
Universities with a Social Purpose: Intentions, Achievements and Challenges (Sustainable Development Goals Series)
by Kerry Shephard V. SanthakumarThis book is a narrative of conversations between two professors, with different backgrounds, academic disciplines, life experiences, and from different continents. It shows how their discourse has brought them to a single destination defined by a mutual interest in the social purposes of universities, and a hope in common that their academic efforts will somehow do good in the world. The seventeen internationally-agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide focus for aspirations and plans regarding sustainability, but notably, the SDGs’ targets and indicators rarely provide detailed accounts of who is expected to enact change. This book addresses the role of higher education in this context and explores the social purposes of universities and their relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. It presents an academic analysis of this complex situation, based on insights from published literature on higher education, and the personal but very different experiences of two professors with this shared interest.
University Access and Success: Capabilities, diversity and social justice (Routledge Research in Higher Education)
by Merridy Wilson-StrydomThe challenge of widening access and participation in higher education in a manner that ensures students are successful in their studies is a major issue globally and a significant research-focus within higher education studies and higher education policy. Similarly, the challenge of under-preparedness of students entering higher education has become increasingly pertinent as universities in both developed and developing countries struggle to improve their throughput rates in a context in which schooling no longer seems to provide sufficient preparation for entering university. In this book Merridy Wilson-Strydom applies the capabilities approach to better understand university access and participation and draws on a rich case study from South Africa to critically and innovatively explore the complex and contradictory terrain of access with success. The book integrates quantitative and qualitative research with theory and practical application to provide a new framework for considering and improving the transition from school to university. University Access and Success will appeal to academics and researchers in the field of higher education internationally. The book also contributes to the growing body of international and comparative scholarship on the capabilities approach in higher education and will therefore be of value to higher education practitioners, such as those working in the promotion of teaching and learning, higher education quality assurance, institutional research and student affairs.
University Access and Success: Capabilities, diversity and social justice (Routledge Research in Higher Education)
by Merridy Wilson-StrydomThe challenge of widening access and participation in higher education in a manner that ensures students are successful in their studies is a major issue globally and a significant research-focus within higher education studies and higher education policy. Similarly, the challenge of under-preparedness of students entering higher education has become increasingly pertinent as universities in both developed and developing countries struggle to improve their throughput rates in a context in which schooling no longer seems to provide sufficient preparation for entering university. In this book Merridy Wilson-Strydom applies the capabilities approach to better understand university access and participation and draws on a rich case study from South Africa to critically and innovatively explore the complex and contradictory terrain of access with success. The book integrates quantitative and qualitative research with theory and practical application to provide a new framework for considering and improving the transition from school to university. University Access and Success will appeal to academics and researchers in the field of higher education internationally. The book also contributes to the growing body of international and comparative scholarship on the capabilities approach in higher education and will therefore be of value to higher education practitioners, such as those working in the promotion of teaching and learning, higher education quality assurance, institutional research and student affairs.
University and Academics’ Societal Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa: Benefits, Drivers, and Constraints of Knowledge Production (ISSN)
by Christian Schneijderberg Nelson Casimiro ZavaleThis book provides a comprehensive account of the patterns of university and academics’ societal engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), considering knowledge production and the resulting outputs, outcomes, and benefits that are yielded from such engagement for society.Responding to the call for increased visibility of otherwise marginalised voices in SSA’s extant global literature on knowledge production, chapters in the book explore questions around Knowledge-based Economies and forms of knowledge, and suggest an alternative framework to overcome conventional bias and limits present in prominent concepts, such as National Systems of Innovation, Triple Helix, and Mode 2. Further, the authors examine the main drivers, constraints, and barriers to this engagement, and the typology of those with a vested interest in its development.Ultimately exploring how higher education institutions in SSA engage with, and transfer knowledge to, different external stakeholders, this book will be of value to academics involved with the study of higher education and science, innovation studies, the sociology of education, and education and development more broadly. In addition, politicians, administrators, and practitioners related to higher education, science, and innovation will also find the book of use.
University and Academics’ Societal Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa: Benefits, Drivers, and Constraints of Knowledge Production (ISSN)
by Christian Schneijderberg Nelson Casimiro ZavaleThis book provides a comprehensive account of the patterns of university and academics’ societal engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), considering knowledge production and the resulting outputs, outcomes, and benefits that are yielded from such engagement for society.Responding to the call for increased visibility of otherwise marginalised voices in SSA’s extant global literature on knowledge production, chapters in the book explore questions around Knowledge-based Economies and forms of knowledge, and suggest an alternative framework to overcome conventional bias and limits present in prominent concepts, such as National Systems of Innovation, Triple Helix, and Mode 2. Further, the authors examine the main drivers, constraints, and barriers to this engagement, and the typology of those with a vested interest in its development.Ultimately exploring how higher education institutions in SSA engage with, and transfer knowledge to, different external stakeholders, this book will be of value to academics involved with the study of higher education and science, innovation studies, the sociology of education, and education and development more broadly. In addition, politicians, administrators, and practitioners related to higher education, science, and innovation will also find the book of use.
The University and its Boundaries: Thriving or Surviving in the 21st Century
by Eliel CohenGrounded in key sociological theory on the concepts of boundaries, power and control, this text addresses the question of whether the university is thriving or merely surviving. Using a sociological lens to consider how institutions must engage in boundary transactions in order to maintain their unique position and identity, this book explores how these transactions also have the potential to undermine academic boundaries. Including a detailed analysis of the activities, organisation and outputs of academic research in the context of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) departments of UK universities, the arguments presented have implications for universities and their stakeholders not only in the United Kingdom, but wherever universities face challenges of purpose and identity, particularly where these are shaped by neoliberal modes of governance and management. Insights into how universities must balance the ideas of themselves as teaching institutions, research institutions and their broader societal importance and impact make this important reading for higher education scholars and postgraduate students, sociological theorists and all those interested in the future of the university.
The University and its Boundaries: Thriving or Surviving in the 21st Century
by Eliel CohenGrounded in key sociological theory on the concepts of boundaries, power and control, this text addresses the question of whether the university is thriving or merely surviving. Using a sociological lens to consider how institutions must engage in boundary transactions in order to maintain their unique position and identity, this book explores how these transactions also have the potential to undermine academic boundaries. Including a detailed analysis of the activities, organisation and outputs of academic research in the context of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) departments of UK universities, the arguments presented have implications for universities and their stakeholders not only in the United Kingdom, but wherever universities face challenges of purpose and identity, particularly where these are shaped by neoliberal modes of governance and management. Insights into how universities must balance the ideas of themselves as teaching institutions, research institutions and their broader societal importance and impact make this important reading for higher education scholars and postgraduate students, sociological theorists and all those interested in the future of the university.
The University and its Disciplines: Teaching and Learning within and beyond disciplinary boundaries
by Carolin KreberUniversity teaching and learning take place within ever more specialized disciplinary settings, each characterized by its unique traditions, concepts, practices and procedures. It is now widely recognized that support for teaching and learning needs to take this discipline-specificity into account. However, in a world characterized by rapid change, complexity and uncertainty, problems do not present themselves as distinct subjects but increasingly within trans-disciplinary contexts calling for graduate outcomes that go beyond specialized knowledge and skills. This ground-breaking book highlights the important interplay between context-specific and context-transcendent aspects of teaching, learning and assessment. It explores critical questions, such as: What are the ‘ways of thinking and practicing’ characteristic of particular disciplines? How can students be supported in becoming participants of particular disciplinary discourse communities? Can the diversity in teaching, learning and assessment practices that we observe across departments be attributed exclusively to disciplinary structure? To what extent do the disciplines prepare students for the complexities and uncertainties that characterize their later professional, civic and personal lives?Written for university teachers, educational developers as well as new and experienced researchers of Higher Education, this highly-anticipated first edition offers innovative perspectives from leading Canadian, US and UK scholars on how academic learning within particular disciplines can help students acquire the skills, abilities and dispositions they need to succeed academically and also post graduation. Carolin Kreber is Professor of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and the Director of the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Assessment at the University of Edinburgh
The University and its Disciplines: Teaching and Learning within and beyond disciplinary boundaries
by Carolin KreberUniversity teaching and learning take place within ever more specialized disciplinary settings, each characterized by its unique traditions, concepts, practices and procedures. It is now widely recognized that support for teaching and learning needs to take this discipline-specificity into account. However, in a world characterized by rapid change, complexity and uncertainty, problems do not present themselves as distinct subjects but increasingly within trans-disciplinary contexts calling for graduate outcomes that go beyond specialized knowledge and skills. This ground-breaking book highlights the important interplay between context-specific and context-transcendent aspects of teaching, learning and assessment. It explores critical questions, such as: What are the ‘ways of thinking and practicing’ characteristic of particular disciplines? How can students be supported in becoming participants of particular disciplinary discourse communities? Can the diversity in teaching, learning and assessment practices that we observe across departments be attributed exclusively to disciplinary structure? To what extent do the disciplines prepare students for the complexities and uncertainties that characterize their later professional, civic and personal lives?Written for university teachers, educational developers as well as new and experienced researchers of Higher Education, this highly-anticipated first edition offers innovative perspectives from leading Canadian, US and UK scholars on how academic learning within particular disciplines can help students acquire the skills, abilities and dispositions they need to succeed academically and also post graduation. Carolin Kreber is Professor of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and the Director of the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Assessment at the University of Edinburgh
University and School Collaborations during a Pandemic: Sustaining Educational Opportunity and Reinventing Education (Knowledge Studies in Higher Education #8)
by Fernando M. Reimers Francisco J. MarmolejoBased on twenty case studies of universities worldwide, and on a survey administered to leaders in 101 universities, this open access book shows that, amidst the significant challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, universities found ways to engage with schools to support them in sustaining educational opportunity. In doing so, they generated considerable innovation, which reinforced the integration of the research and outreach functions of the university. The evidence suggests that universities are indeed open systems, in interaction with their environment, able to discover changes that can influence them and to change in response to those changes. They are also able, in the success of their efforts to mitigate the educational impact of the pandemic, to create better futures, as the result of the innovations they can generate. This challenges the view of universities as “ivory towers” being isolated from the surrounding environment and detached from local problems. As they reached out to schools, universities not only generated clear and valuable innovations to sustain educational opportunity and to improve it, this process also contributed to transform internal university processes in ways that enhanced their own ability to deliver on the third mission of outreach.
The University and Social Justice: Struggles Across the Globe (PDF)
by Aziz Choudry Salim VallyHigher education has long been contested terrain. From student movements to staff unions, the fight for accessible, critical and quality public education has turned university campuses globally into sites of struggle. Whether calling for the decommodification or the decolonisation of education, many of these struggles have attempted to draw on (and in turn, resonate with) longer histories of popular resistance, broader social movements and radical visions of a fairer world. In this critical collection, Aziz Choudry, Salim Vally and a host of international contributors bring grounded, analytical accounts of diverse struggles relating to higher education into conversation with each other. Featuring contributions written by students and staff members on the frontline of struggles from 12 different countries, including Canada, Chile, France, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Occupied Palestine, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the USA, the book asks what can be learned from these movements' strategies, demands and visions.
The University and Social Justice: Struggles Across the Globe
by Aziz Choudry Salim VallyHigher education has long been contested terrain. From student movements to staff unions, the fight for accessible, critical and quality public education has turned university campuses globally into sites of struggle.*BR**BR*Whether calling for the decommodification or the decolonisation of education, many of these struggles have attempted to draw on (and in turn, resonate with) longer histories of popular resistance, broader social movements and radical visions of a fairer world. In this critical collection, Aziz Choudry, Salim Vally and a host of international contributors bring grounded, analytical accounts of diverse struggles relating to higher education into conversation with each other.*BR**BR*Featuring contributions written by students and staff members on the frontline of struggles from 12 different countries, including Canada, Chile, France, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Occupied Palestine, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the USA, the book asks what can be learned from these movements' strategies, demands and visions.