The Future University: Ideas and Possibilities

Winner of the Comparative and International Education Society Higher Education Special Interest Group Best Book Award for 2014! As universities increasingly engage with the world beyond the classroom and the campus, those who work within higher education are left to examine how the university’s mission has changed. Official reviews and debates often forget to inquire into the purposes and responsibilities of universities, and how they are changing. Where these matters are addressed, they are rarely pursued in depth, and rarely go beyond current circumstances. Those who care about the university’s role in society are left looking for a renewed sense of purpose regarding its goals and aspirations. The Future University explores new avenues opening up to universities and tackles fundamental issues facing their development. Contributors with interdisciplinary and international perspectives imagine ways to frame the university’s future. They consider the history of the university, its current status as an active player in local governments, cultures, and markets, and where these trajectories may lead. What does it mean to be a university in the twenty-first century? What could the university become? What limitations do they face, and what opportunities might lie ahead? This volume in the International Studies in Higher Education series offers bold and imaginative possibilities.

Table of Contents:
Introduction, Ronald Barnett I. Emerging futures 1. The Future isn’t Waiting, Sheldon Rothblatt 2. Imagining the University of the Future, Louise Morley II. Global possibilities 3. Accessing Knowledge in the University of the Future: Lessons from Australia, Leesa Wheelahan 4. The Trajectory and Future of the Idea of the University in China, Shuang-Ye Chen and Leslie N.K. Lo 5. The Idea of the University in Latin America in the 21st Century, Mario Diaz Villa 6. The Decline of the University in South Africa: Reconstituting the Place of Reason, Yusef Waghid III. Ideas of the University 7. Towards a Networked University, Nicolas Standaert 8. The University as Fool, Donncha Kavanagh 9. Re-imagining the University: Developing a Capacity to Care, Gloria Dall’Alba 10. Creating a Better World: Towards the University of Wisdom, Nicholas Maxwell IV. A University for Society 11. Universities and the Common Good, Jon Nixon 12. Teaching in the University the Day After Tomorrow, Paul Standish 13. The University: A Public Issue, Jan Masschelein and Maarten Simons 14. The Future of University Research in Africa, Berte van Wyk and Philip Higgs 15. Knowledge Socialism: Intellectual Commons and Openness in the University, Michael Peters, Garett Gietzen and David J Ondercin Coda, Ronald Barnett