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Conference invitation and call for papers
Towards a New Contract
Between Universities and Society?
A historical
sociological perspective on the Lisbon Strategy and EU policies
of higher education and research
Bergen - May 18-19, 2006
The fourth conference on knowledge
and politics invites the participants to a historical-sociological
analysis of the Lisbon Strategy and EU policies, and how these
policies relate to academic traditions in Europe concerning
the construction of universities, disciplines and professions,
and the values attached to these traditions.
As a follow-up of the strategic goals of the
European Council's Lisbon summit in 20001,
the EU is now aiming to create a "new contract"
between society and the universities. A number of required
changes to this end have been presented, including a new system
of governance, new kinds of funding, new types of relations
between education and work, and new kinds of knowledge and
professions, as well as innovative means of controlling quality,
a concentration of research, a focus on networks and on centres
of excellence within and between universities. The European
commission has underlined the role of the universities as
key players for the achievement of the goals set in 2000 and
seeks to enhance the potential contribution of the universities
to the Lisbon strategy in stating that a new way of mobilising
the brainpower of Europe is needed.2
The future of Europe as a
competitive economy and as a knowledge society is at stake,
it is argued, and a modernisation of the universities is called
for. This diagnosis which is guiding policies calls for quick
changes. Competition with other economies, as well as a competitive
higher education and research sector demands action.
The different organisations representing the
universities (European Association of Universities, for example)3
also seems to promote the Lisbon /EU demand for a new social
contract between the sector and society. The leadership of
the individual universities however, have been more silent
on these issues, as is also the case for the research community
itself.
At the conference we wish
to critically examine the presuppositions and implications
of the Lisbon/EU strategies by returning to the history and
the sociology of the academic traditions of Europe, and the
values attached to these traditions, focusing on two main
issues concerning present reform processes and policies in
higher education in Europe:
• How do these processes and policies
relate to academic traditions and values, and the historical
construction of universities, disciplines and professions
in Europe.
• How do they affect the access to knowledge
and higher education as a public good, the distribution of
intellectual property rights, and the borders between a Europe
of Knowledge and the World of Knowledge.
These issues will be addressed in the plenary
speeches of Professor Hannes Siegrist, as well as in specific
work groups organized around these two issues during the two
days of the conference, convened by the organizers of the
conference:
Work group 1. Convenors Ivar Bleiklie, Svein
Michelsen, Marte Mangset
Work group 2. Convenors Tor Halvorsen, Linda Sangolt, Tom
Skauge
Conference participants with papers are asked
to indicate in which of the two groups they prefer to present
their papers.
In particular we welcome
papers that deal with questions like:
What will be the role of the universities (in competition
with other knowledge creating institutions) in the shaping
of different public spaces for higher education and research?
How will the EU and other reforms challenge established values
within education and research? And how do these reforms express
a long-term change in the relation between state and the sector?
How can and will universities influence ownership
of knowledge and access to knowledge? When is knowledge considered
a public good, when is it a means for other ends, and when
is it part of a process of culture?
What will be the role of the university in
the shaping of professions and professional values, and how
will these roles – and thus the professions - change
in times of cross border education and work, within Europe
and beyond.
At the ministerial conference
for the Bologna process in Bergen concern about the relation
between Bologna and the EU, and the relation between Bologna,
the EU and the developing world, was expressed.4
The interest in the Bologna process from other regions is
growing, but so is the concern that established networks of
research collaboration between Europe and the poor countries
will dwindle due to new commitments to Excellence as defined
by the West.
Please note that we also welcome papers cross-cutting
the indicated issues.
_____________________
Notes:
1) Presidency Conclusions, Lisbon European
Council, 23 and 24 March 2000.
2) Communication from the commission. Mobilising the brainpower
of Europe: enabling universities to make their full contribution
to the Lisbon Strategy. Brussels 20.04.05. Com 152 final.
3) EUA Statement on the Research Role of Europe’s Universities,
European University Association.
4) See Opening
Speech by Minister for Education and Research, Kristin
Clemet, Norway. The Bologna Process, Bergen 2005.
Read more: The
plan of the conference - Submit
paper/abstract - Speakers -
Organizers
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