5th Global Conference

Thursday 8th May - Saturday 10th May 2008
Budapest, Hungary

Conference Programme, Abstracts and Papers

This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference aims to provide a vigorous forum for the examination and evaluation of higher education and the contexts where higher education is delivered. The project is committed to the tradition of liberal education, the inherent value of the pursuit of learning and the principle that knowledge must be an end in itself. In particular, the project will explore the nature and aims of higher education, its guiding principles, its practical functions, and its role in society.

This fifth instalment of the Global Conference on the Idea of Education continues within the tradition of critical debate of and engaged reflection on Higher Education that started in 2002 with the first two conferences, held at Mansfield College (Oxford), and the follow-up conferences held in Prague. Over the years, the conferences have proven to be a creative hub for those who are committed to Higher Education (HE) and who are willing to critically think through the key issues in and fundamental challenges of Higher Education in the 21st century. The project is committed to the tradition of liberal education and the value of the pursuit of learning.

Papers, presentations, reports and workshops are invited on issues on or broadly related to any of the following conference streams:

1. The Nature, Purpose and Changing Landscapes of Higher Education

1. What are the nature and aims of the historical traditions which shape HE?
2. Which possible roles of liberal arts education remain viable in an era in which ‘instruction’, ‘training’ and ‘vocational training’ seems to redefine the nature of HE?
3. From ‘students’ to ‘customers’ and ‘professors’ to ‘knowledge-managers’: How may the changing relationships and partners in education transform the agents within HE?
4. What are the costs and benefits of commodification and the rise of managerialism in HE?
5. From ‘basic research’ to ‘Mode Two,’ from ‘basic funding’ to ‘fourth stream funding’: What is the impact of the changing landscapes of research, research types and research funding on HE?
6. ‘Mind your own business:’ but what, precisely, is the ‘business’ of the university?

 2. Society, Culture and the of Places of Higher Education

1. What is the role of places of HE in the 21st Century?
2. What are the social and institutional contexts of the university and the college?
3. What are ‘the needs of society’ in relation to HE?
4. What visions are there for reconceiving the place and work of HE institutions?
5. What visions exist for the future of multicultural and intercultural HE?
6. How to cope with linguistic and cultural diversity in HE?
7. Which anthropologies, sociologies and philosophies of HE for the 21st century?
8. How do knowledge economies and lifelong learning transform HE?

 3. The Internet, Virtual Learning and Higher Education

1. Emerging technologies within HE;
2. International technology challenges and experiences;
3. Organizational issues/strategies in Virtual HE;
4. Best virtual teaching practice;
5. Case studies of experimental projects;
6. Blended Learning approaches;
7. Professional development and support structures
8. Intellectual Property issues

 4. Globalisation, Democracy and Higher Education

1. Can there be a ‘Global University’? What does/should it look like?
2. Where’s the ‘place’ of the university in a globalised world? (Coalitions, branches, networks, ICT & virtuality, Bricks vs Clicks)
3. Who does the global university ‘relate’ to? (Local communities, Nation states, Governments, International organizations?)
4. What can HE ‘service to society’ mean in a globalised world?
5. Which relations (should) exist between  HE and international development & capital?
6. Global HE and knowledge production matters and intellectual property issues
7. HE in the context of political and economical ideologies.
8. Issues of Citizenship, social justice and HE.
9. Power, participation, access and inequality in globalised HE.

Papers will also be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 18th January 2008. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 18th April 2008.

300 word abstracts should be submitted to both Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this order: author(s), affiliation, email address, title of abstract, body of abstract. We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

The conference is part of the At the Interface programme of research projects. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.

Multiple eBooks and volumes of themed papers have been published or are in press from the previous conference meetings of this project. All papers accepted for and presented at this conference will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be published in a themed hard copy volume.