Being A University

There is no single idea of the university. Ever since its medieval origin, the concept of the university has continued to change. The metaphysical university gave way successively to the scientific university, and then to the corporate and the entrepreneurial university. But what, then, might lie ahead? Being a University both charts this conceptual development and examines the future possibilities for the idea of the university. Ronald Barnett pursues this quest through an exploration of pairs of contending concepts that speak to the idea of the university – such as space and time; being and becoming; and culture and anarchy. On this foundation is developed an imaginative exposition of possible ideas of the university, including the liquid university and the authentic university. In the course of this inquiry, it is argued that: Any thought that the idea of the entrepreneurial university represents the end-point of the evolution of the idea of the university has to be abandoned. The entrepreneurial university is excessively parochial and ill-matched to the challenges facing the university A responsibility of the university is precisely that of working out an imaginative conception of its future possibilities. The boldest and largest thinking is urgently required The fullest expression of the university’s possibilities lies in a reclamation of the universal aspirations that lay in earlier ideas of the university. The ecological university represents just such a universal aspiration, suited to the unfolding demands of the future. Being a University will be of wide interest, to institutional leaders and managers, higher education planners, academics in all disciplines and students of higher education, in educational policy and politics, and the philosophy, sociology and theory of education, and indeed, anyone who believes in the future of the university.

There is no single idea of the university. Ever since its medieval origin, the concept of the university has continued to change. The metaphysical university gave way successively to the scientific university, and then to the corporate and the entrepreneurial university. But what, then, might lie ahead? Being a University both charts this conceptual development and examines the future possibilities for the idea of the university. Ronald Barnett pursues this quest through an exploration of pairs of contending concepts that speak to the idea of the university – such as space and time; being and becoming; and culture and anarchy. On this foundation is developed an imaginative exposition of possible ideas of the university, including the liquid university and the authentic university. In the course of this inquiry, it is argued that: Any thought that the idea of the entrepreneurial university represents the end-point of the evolution of the idea of the university has to be abandoned. The entrepreneurial university is excessively parochial and ill-matched to the challenges facing the university A responsibility of the university is precisely that of working out an imaginative conception of its future possibilities. The boldest and largest thinking is urgently required The fullest expression of the university’s possibilities lies in a reclamation of the universal aspirations that lay in earlier ideas of the university. The ecological university represents just such a universal aspiration, suited to the unfolding demands of the future. Being a University will be of wide interest, to institutional leaders and managers, higher education planners, academics in all disciplines and students of higher education, in educational policy and politics, and the philosophy, sociology and theory of education, and indeed, anyone who believes in the future of the university.

This book explores the lived meanings of being a university educator from an existential perspective. The book enriches our understanding of educators' experiences in light of Martin Heidegger's early philosophy, and vice versa (opening our understanding of Heidegger's philosophy through educators' experiences). Also drawing on the philosophical insights of Hans-Georg Gadamer, the book situates the purposes and experiences of the ‘educator’ in historical and contemporary contexts. In doing so, the author reveals that being a university educator is essentially characterised by conversation and time. Inspired by the author’s own experiences of teaching community development and sociology within a youth-work specific bachelor degree, the book invites educators to apply existential philosophy as a tool to reflect upon their own experiences and to reconnect with the question of what it means to be an educator in their shared world of practice. This thoughtful volume is sure to resonate with the experiences of readers who educate within a university context.

Well-Being and Success for University Students: Applying PERMA+4 is grounded in the science of well-being and positive psychology and teaches students how to strengthen their health and well-being, as well as to make their study journey more enjoyable and successful. Higher education has changed dramatically during the last few years, and given the massive growth of mental health challenges among students, universities and faculty have recognized the need to help students to strive, not only survive. Universities have a great potential and responsibility to promote the well-being of their students. This book provides students with information, motivation, and skills to build their own unique well-being and helps colleges to produce more well-being in the university culture. Students and faculty will be introduced to PERMA+4, an evidence-based framework for enhancing well-being and positive functioning, including academic performance. This book emphasizes practical applications of findings from the best available research to have students learn several steps they can take to strengthen their well-being and academic performance. Individual chapters talk about popular topics of positive psychology such as positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, achievement, physical health, mindset, environment, and economic security. Each chapter summarizes the knowledge on specific topics, invites students to assess their well-being in the particular life domain, and encourages them to explore and try activities and evidence-based interventions to learn how to care for their own mental and overall health. This book not only serves as a guide for students but also as a useful tool for professors seeking to enhance their courses and programs with well-being promotion and student wellness centers across the world.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner of the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Nonfiction Nominated for the Evergreen Award A powerful, moving memoir about what it's like to be a student of colour on a predominantly white campus. A booksmart kid from Toronto, Eternity Martis was excited to move away to Western University for her undergraduate degree. But as one of the few Black students there, she soon discovered that the campus experiences she'd seen in movies were far more complex in reality. Over the next four years, Eternity learned more about what someone like her brought out in other people than she did about herself. She was confronted by white students in blackface at parties, dealt with being the only person of colour in class and was tokenized by her romantic partners. She heard racial slurs in bars, on the street, and during lectures. And she gathered labels she never asked for: Abuse survivor. Token. Bad feminist. But, by graduation, she found an unshakeable sense of self--and a support network of other women of colour. Using her award-winning reporting skills, Eternity connects her own experience to the systemic issues plaguing students today. It's a memoir of pain, but also resilience.

Being Poland offers a unique analysis of the cultural developments that took place in Poland after World War One, a period marked by Poland’s return to independence. Conceived to address the lack of critical scholarship on Poland’s cultural restoration, Being Poland illuminates the continuities, paradoxes, and contradictions of Poland’s modern and contemporary cultural practices, and challenges the narrative typically prescribed to Polish literature and film. Reflecting the radical changes, rifts, and restorations that swept through Poland in this period, Polish literature and film reveal a multitude of perspectives. Addressing romantic perceptions of the Polish immigrant, the politics of post-war cinema, poetry, and mass media, Being Poland is a comprehensive reference work written with the intention of exposing an international audience to the explosion of Polish literature and film that emerged in the twentieth century.

Documenting a black professor's account of his own professional experience, this study describes what it feels like to be a nonwhite academic in one of the "big three" disciplines in the humanities--English, history, and philosophy. Challenging the notion that today's Canadian universities have successfully addressed the issues of diversity, this argument warns that if professors of color cannot see academia as a liberal bastion, it can only be even more forbidding for students of color. Demonstrating how integration policies are manipulated when it comes to hiring visible minorities in the university, this reference highlights aspects such as merit that are commonly used to deny employment. Positing that institutions should deliver on their stated policies instead of hiding behind formalities, this emboldened examination will surprise those inside and outside of the academic field.