Curating the European University : Exposition and Public Debate

This book features projects involving alternative organizations of departments, proposals for open access and open source, and university architecture and accessibility; it offers a unique contribution to public debate on the role of the university.

The university is an institution that goes back to the Middle Ages. As universitas magistrorum et scholarium the university was a community of scholars and students gathered around books and preoccupied with study and the search for truth. But what is the role of the university today? The meaning of teaching, study, and research has changed. Screens are replacing books, online learning environments are replacing lecture halls, and students are becoming learners. In the context of a growing emphasis on innovation and development, competition among institutions, and the privatisation of knowledge, the role of communities of scholars and students is changing. Some argue that the university is entering a new phase, others claim that we face the end of the university. To address these issues a conference was organized with an exposition of projects involving new ways of publishing, alternative organizations of departments, proposals for open access and open source, and university architecture and accessibility. Each of the contributors reflects, from their exhibited project, on the challenges the university is facing today. More than a catalogue of different projects, Curating the European University offers a unique contribution to the public debate on the role of the university.