How to Destroy a University – Prof. Donald E. Hall скачать в хорошем качестве

How to Destroy a University – Prof. Donald E. Hall

Universities across the globe are under attack, and threats are coming from many directions. Some of us find ourselves at ground zero in the culture wars: in the United States, for example, college campuses have become battlegrounds over questions of social justice, fact-based understandings of history, and the roots of inequality. American universities have seen intense verbal and even physical clashes arising from differences in opinion over the causes of and solutions to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as well as proxy battles over the role of diversity offices and initiatives attempting to address systemic racism. However, some existential threats come not from external cultural forces, but instead from disastrous internal leadership decisions and governmental policies. In this call to action, I want to examine the tragic situation that one of my former employers—West Virginia University—finds itself in. A noxious combination of financial mismanagement, ignorance of enrollment trends, and wholesale state divestment from higher education has led to a gutting of key liberal arts programs, the termination of many tenured faculty, and deep cost-cutting that signals an impending death spiral of diminishing worth. We who are on the frontlines must find ways to challenge those who, through willful actions or ignorance, threaten the very existence of universities as we know them. This is not a call to martyrdom, but it is a call to action. In this address, which will reference (among others) works by Michel de Certeau and Michel Foucault, both of whom were embroiled in the radical politics that shook late 1960s French higher education, I will argue for a multivalent tacticality that is at once radical in intent but also self-protective in nature. I ask conference members to take the work of IAFOR, its advocacy for international/intercultural/interdisciplinary understanding, back to their home campuses. The empathy, self-awareness, and commitment to understanding that we learn to exercise at IAFOR conferences represent critical skill sets we must draw on as we grapple with and respond to the growing volatility of our academic lives. --- Professor Donald E. Hall (Binghamton University, United States) speaks at the joint conferences on Education (ECE2024), Language Learning, (ECLL2024), Arts & Humanities (ECAH2024), and Aging & Gerontology (EGen2024) in London, United Kingdom. The European Conference on Education (ECE2024) https://ece.iafor.org The European Conference on Language Learning (ECLL2024) https://ecll.iafor.org The European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2024) https://ecah.iafor.org The European Conference on Aging & Gerontology (EGen2024) https://egen.iafor.org --- About IAFOR Founded in 2009, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) is a mission-driven politically independent non-partisan and non-profit organisation dedicated to encouraging interdisciplinary discussion, facilitating intercultural awareness and promoting international exchange, principally through educational interaction and academic research. Through its international, intercultural and interdisciplinary conferences, research, and publications, IAFOR is a network hub for interdisciplinary discussion across Asia and beyond, connecting individuals and institutions across the globe, and the thought leaders of today with those of tomorrow. https://iafor.org