The Purpose of the Future University

I am on the organising committee for this important, and highly relevant conference to be held in Aarhus, Denmark, in November 2017. If you are interested in ideas about the purposes and future of the university, then do join us for this conference:

The Purpose of the Future University
Philosophy of Higher Education Conference

Whether your interest in higher education research is motivated by philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology or another discipline, and if you share a concern for the purpose of the future university, then this conference is for you.

The conference will take place November 6th-8th, 2017, at Aarhus University, in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. The conference begins on Monday November 6th with a welcome reception, and ends on Wednesday afternoon November 8th.

The conference will play an important role in the joint international endeavour of developing and strengthening the discussions about the purpose and role of the university as an institution.The conference will, therefore, be central to the formation of an initiative to establish a lasting joint international academic venture into the philosophy of higher education.We encourage a multigenerational host of participants including PhD students, and newer and experienced researchers and scholars.

Conference themes

Drawing on recent notions such as critical thinking, creativity, ethics and social conscience, the conference brings together academics whose concern is with the role of the university in and for society. Neoliberalism and the audit culture have threatened to reduce the purpose of the university as an institution in the 21st century, putting the university into a legitimation crisis. Given that the future is unpredictable and that the world is connected in ways that were unimaginable just two decades ago, we ask:

• How can the university as an institution and the academics who work in it help to ensure that students are nurtured and adequately prepared for an active role as citizens in a world in which societal, environmental and cultural challenges are shared?
• How is knowledge to be understood in the context of the contemporary university?
• How might the university’s responsibilities towards society be construed, not least for a world that is yet to come?
• What does it mean to be a university today and in the future? Does the university’s own being call for particular actions and different modes of thinking?

We invite submissions that address the following:

– Knowledge, critical thinking, and higher education epistemologies;
– Globalisation and socio-political agendas and their connection to national and local
institutional and professional contexts;
– Entrepreneurship, agency, and the formation of students;
– Higher education curriculum and teaching and learning practices.

Important deadlines and registration:

To keep discussion vibrant and to invite for collaborative thinking and learning, we encourage participants to submit their work-in-progress, and thus not finished papers. We welcome individual paper presentations, symposia, and workshops.

All submission must be made by April 3rd 2017. Submissions made after this date will not be considered. Submissions must be made through the website.

Abstracts for individual papers and workshops should not exceed 1000 words in length, including up to 5 indicative references.

For working papers, presenters will have 20 minutes to present their work, followed by 10
minutes for questions, comments, and discussion in plenum.

A symposium consists of 3-4 contributors, including the convener of the symposium. Each contributor writes a short outline not exceeding 600 words and including 3-4 indicative references, and the convener has responsibility for writing a general introduction to the symposium of 100 words. The convener should submit the introduction together with the contributors’ outlines. These will not be accepted individually.

After April 3rd all proposals will be reviewed by the conference reviewer panel, and you will receive notice whether your proposal is accepted for presentation at the conference no later than June 5th, 2017, so that you will have ample time to arrange for travel and accommodation.

Registration:

Registration opens from April 3rd and closing date for registration is August 1st, 2017.
All registration happens through the conference website. The registration fee for the conference is €250 and includes participation in the evening reception
on Monday 6th November and participation in the conference Tuesday 7th and
Wednesday 8th November including refreshments in the breaks and lunches on Tuesday
and Wednesday. There is a conference dinner on Tuesday 7th November, which participants may register for and pay separately from the registration. The conference dinner will cost €50 and can be booked online.

Accommodation and transport:

It is possible to find accommodation in Aarhus city centre, which is quite close to the venue (1-2 km). We suggest that you book one of the recommend hotels, which will appear on the website. Aarhus airport (Tirstrup) is linked with a number of European cities, but some of you will need to fly to Aarhus via Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup), or arrive in Billund Airport (a local airport) and go to Aarhus by bus from there.

Organising committee and network:

The conference is a joint international project initiated by the steering group: Associate
Professor Søren S.E. Bengtsen (Aarhus University), Associate Professor Sarah Robinson
(Aarhus University), Professor Wesley Shumar (Drexel University, USA), and Reader in Philosophy of Education, Amanda Fulford (Leeds Trinity University).