Being A University: Future Possibilities

A free public lecture next week organised by The University of Queensland’s School of Education will examine where universities are headed in the 21st century.

The lecture will be held on Friday, November 12, from 2-3.30pm at the University’s St Lucia campus.

The Emeritus Professor of Higher Education from the University of London, Professor Ronald Barnett, will critically examine the struggle universities face in finding their identity in the 21st century.

According to Professor Barnett, universities are always making and remaking themselves.

“Over the past century, universities have passed through several phases," he said.

"We’ve seen in turn the metaphysical university, the scientific university, the entrepreneurial university and the corporate university."

Professor Barnett will aim to answer the question: what forms of the university are opening in the 21st century?

“We can perhaps identify potential forms of the university that constitute feasible utopias: utopias that are unlikely to be fulfilled in their entirety but which just could be realised, given sufficient imagination and fortitude, not to mention faith and hope,” he said.

In this spirit, Professor Barnett will argue in favour of the ecological university, which may just offer the highest realisation of the idea of the university in the 21st century.

Professor Barnett is a recognised authority on the conceptual and theoretical understanding of the university and higher education.

He has held many senior positions, including that of Pro-Director for Longer Term Strategy and he was also, for seven years, a Dean.

Professor Barnett 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 30 countries.

Places are limited. Please RSVP to Claire Backhouse, secretary@education.uq.edu.au, or phone 3365 6227 by Friday, November 5. Light refreshments will follow the lecture.

details:
Date: Friday 12 November, 2010
Time: 2pm - 3.30pm
Location: Conference Room, Level 1, Duhig Building 2, The University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus.