The article presents results of an ongoing study of centers of intellectual innovations in post-Soviet Russia. Using the European University at St. Petersburg as the main object of their analysis, the authors demonstrate how new models of academic careers, which became available in the 1980s and 1990s, were eventually institutionalized as new models of knowledge production and educational practices. Supported by American foundations, this private university had to invent a new institutional structure and to position itself within (...) the field of higher education, still mostly dominated by the state. (shrink)

The European Universities Initiative (EUI), created by the European Commission in 2017, is a recent novel phenomenon within the European Union policy toolkit that explicitly targets the development of transnational cooperation in higher education (HE). To date, the EUI counts 44 European university alliances, involving around 340 HE institutions. In this paper, we argue that the EUI can be seen as a case of a transnational institution building process representing a potentially significant structural reform for (...) European higher education. Anchored in new institutionalism, we explore the regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive dimensions of the EUI. Methodologically, this study analyzes the perspectives of European policy actors (n = 4), a set of policy documents (n = 13) and the mission statements of the EUI’s partnerships funded before 2022 (n = 41). The results show that the EUI emerges as the ‘next level of cooperation’ in European HE since it aims to transform European cooperation (regulative dimension), to create and diffuse a new model for European HE following a challenge-based approach (normative dimension), and to work as a way to reinforce and institutionalize European and global scripts for European HE (cultural-cognitive dimension). (shrink)

The problem of whether "Chinese philosophy" exists and deserves a place in Philosophy departments has not only remained unsolved but has even hardly led to any meaningful debate. The fact that repeated appeals to universality and fairness have largely remained unanswered indicates the limits of rationality in this matter. I have argued in the past that the futility of rational arguments is related to our emotional attachment to entities that fall beyond our control, such as the institutions where we are (...) trained, and that, like a family, shape our views on a subconscious level.1 This essay is not yet another argument in favor of Chinese philosophy, but turns to the institutional level, more specifically the European... (shrink)

Traditionally, ‘education through research’ is understood to be a main characteristic of education at the university. In this article we will explore how ‘education through research’ is argued to be of major importance for the European knowledge society, how there is still a reference to the idea of Bildung or liberal education, and what research is presumed to be like if it is to have this edifying potential. It will be argued that the edifying potential of research is (...) related to a normative component in the research activity and that this normative orientation and its presuppositions are problematic today. This lays the way for the exploration of alternative approaches to the edifying potential of research (with reference especially to Jürgen Mittelstrass and Jacques Derrida) and for the discussion of what could be at stake for ‘education through research’. (shrink)

Purpose of the article is to describe purpose of symposia oriented at sustainable development, existing achievements of the Pan-European University in organization of such events and future plans. Methodologyused in this manuscript is simple observation. Manuscript discovers potential of the Pan-European University to come up with further similar events in the year 2015. Concluding remarks are that described activities fully conform into the vision of the Pan-European University to become a well-known institution within the (...) Global Research Area, traditionally elaborating research and scientific collaboration across national borders. Sustainable Development Symposium and follow-up events belong to top-rated international events bringing together scientists, professionals, and policymakers from many countries. (shrink)

While studies of higher education institutions have a long-standing disciplinary as well as interdisciplinary tradition in the UK, USA, Australia and some European countries, in the Central and Eastern Europe region (CEE) (widely defined) scholarly occupation with these issues has been critically lacking. The book under review here aims to bridge this latent divide in the scholarship with a comprehensive view of academic enterprise in Europe, while focusing on the processes of establishing the entrepreneurial university in CEE.

The use of student evaluations of teaching (SET) has become a widespread practice in higher education despite inconclusive evidence reported in the literature around its validity. Not surprisingly, the question of the validity of SET continues to be a current debate in higher education, pointing to the need for more research in this area. This paper is a part of a larger scale study, which aims to contribute to broadening the knowledge and understanding of SET validity by analysing the process (...) within the South East European University (SEEU) in North Macedonia in order to determine whether student evaluations are objective and critical. A likert scale questionnaire, containing 9 questions, was designed for the purpose of the analysis. The questionnaire was sent to all students from the five (5) Faculties: Business and Economics, Law, Contemporary Sciences and Technologies, Contemporary Social Sciences and Faculty of Languages, Cultures and Communications, in both campuses, Tetovo and Skopje. Three hundred and thirty three (333) students participated in the survey. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for analysing the results. Findings revealed that the information students received about the reputation, experience and qualifications of the professors had the highest influence on their perceptions, which in turn influenced the evaluations. As an addition, the present paper also compares two methods on a data set of actual SET. For illustrative purposes, only data from one faculty have been analysed. It is shown that the traditional method of considering the average values can misrepresent a teacher’s performance as it can be highly sensitive to any extreme grades, being either very positive or very negative. (shrink)

This study aims to determine the demographic characteristics influencing the performance of Academic staff at the Southeast European University. This study employs data from the student evaluation carried out by the students for their respective professors and courses for the Fall and Spring semesters during the academic year 20/21. A lot of research has been done on demographics and its effect on the professor’s performance, and they point out that demographic attributes can change the rating evaluations, therefore these (...) factors need to be analyzed at SEEU to come to our conclusion. We assume that middle aged professors, females and single professors receive higher evaluation scores. In order to analyze the demographic characteristics of the academic staff of SEEU and how they influence student evaluations, quantitative research methodology was used including calculation of frequencies, percentages, means and cross tabulations. The results of the study show that students generally evaluate with high grades their professors, where the average of the whole questions asked resulted above 4.5, as per Likert scale, 1-5. Furthermore, the general results of the academic staff according to the demographic characteristics such as age, experience in teaching, academic title, gender and marital status for each academic staff do really show differences in student evaluation values. This is an important thing to know when recruiting and retaining academic staff that appear to be highly appreciated by students especially because that results from higher teaching quality. (shrink)

Have invisible barriers for women been broken in 2007, or do we still have to break through medicine's glass ceiling? Data from two of the most prestigious university hospitals in Barcelona with 700-800 beds, Hospital Clínic (HC) and Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (HSCSP) address this issue. In the HSCSP, 87% of the department chairs are men and 85% of the department unit chiefs are also men. With respect to women, only 5 (13%) are in the (...) top position (department chair) and 4 (15%) are department unit chiefs. Similar statistics are also found at the HC: 87% of the department chairs and 89% of the department unit chiefs are men. Currently, only 6 women (13%) are in the top position and 6 (11%) are department unit chiefs. Analysis of the 2002 data of internal promotions in HC showed that for the first level (senior specialist) sex distribution was similar. Nevertheless, for the second level (consultant) only 25% were women, and for the top level (senior consultant) only 8% were women. These proportions have not changed in 2007 in spite of a 10% increase in leadership positions during this period. Similar proportions were found in HSCSP where 68% of the top promotions were held by men. The data obtained from these two different medical institutions in Barcelona are probably representative of other hospitals in Spain. It would be ethically desirable to have males and females in leadership positions in the medical profession. (shrink)

Leibniz was probably the last universal scholar in modern times who made original and innovative achievements in all the essential fields of knowledge of his time: as a reform-oriented lawyer, a multilateral thinking diplomat, as a mathematician of infinitesimal calculus, as the inventor of a calculating machine and in the mining of horizontal wind power, as an organizer of science and as one of the first historians who strived for source-critical methodical objectivity. However, this baroque diversity can only be understood (...) from the center of a monadological philosophy, which wants to establish the unity of scientific worldview and metaphysical concept of the world. It is distorted in the classical reception because only Leibniz the Theodicy was known. The topicality of Leibniz today consists in re-exposing the original basic idea of unity in diversity and asking how it can be made fruitful for philosophical and political thought in the 21st century. This book is a translation of the original German 1st edition Leibniz und die Folgen by Jörg Zimmer, published by J.B. Metzler, imprint of Springer-Verlag GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2018. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors. (shrink)

It is argued that university education has a moral and social function in society. Its purpose is to provide a liberal education , the development of new knowledge and the provision of trustworthy, disinterested research. To serve society in this way safeguards are necessary: a separation from the state, giving institutional autonomy and academic freedom in teaching and research. With the rise of extreme free market capitalism and the "knowledge society", these safeguards are being eroded: national governments, partly through (...) the ramifications of the Bologna convergence... process, are in the process of moulding universities to the needs of the market, and now see the accommodation of students to the workplace as the principal, or indeed only, objective for a university education. Example of the consequences of these changes are discussed, including the corruption of research integrity and erosion of individual liberties. (shrink)

We analyze the role of institutional founding conditions and institutional legacy for universities’ self-representation in terms of diversity. Based on 374 universities located in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland, we can differentiate between a more idealistic understanding (logic of inclusion and equality) and a more market-oriented understanding (market logic) of diversity. Our findings show that the founding phase has no significant effect on the likelihood of a university focusing on a market-oriented understanding of diversity—however, we (...) observe an imprinting effect with respect to the adoption of a diversity statement in general and an equity-oriented statement. Moreover, our findings show that there is a socialistic heritage for universities in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries that is at work and still influences universities’ understandings of diversity today. (shrink)

This paper reports the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries. The analysis is based on a questionnaire applied to a sample built through a two-step procedure of post-hoc random selection from a broader dataset based on an online survey. Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis-a combination of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We identified 5 symbolic universes, that correspond to basic, embodied, affect-laden, generalized worldviews. People in (...) this study see the world as either a) an ordered universe;b) a matter of interpersonal bond;c) a caring society;d) consisting of a niche of belongingness;e) a hostile place. These symbolic universes were also interpreted as semiotic capital: they reflect the capacity of a place to foster social and civic development. Moreover, the distribution of the symbolic universes, and therefore social and civic engagement, is demonstrated to be variable across the 4 countries in the analysis. Finally, we develop a retrospective reconstruction of the distribution of symbolic universes as well as the interplay between their current state and past, present and future socio-institutional scenarios. (shrink)

In this paper, I present some responses to an argument made by an economist in an online video: that when Britain leaves the European Union, it will be taking many high ranking universities with it, which will lead to an innovation deficit in the union. I present some responses by means of a pastiche of a widely read European fiction writer.

This article reconsiders Paul Ricœur’s political philosophical writings on the task of decolonization and European responsibility in light of a horizon of intercultural dialogue. Departing from the exchange between Ricœur and his former student Enrique Dussel, it discusses the Ricœurian critique of modernity. After giving some background on Ricœur’s reflections on decolonization, it will clarify what Ricœur calls the “crisis of the concrete universal in the thinking and in the historical experience of Western Europe,” and what role cultural difference (...) has in this crisis. Considering Ricœur’s explicitly European perspective, this will lead us to a critical discussion on the envisioned possibility of a world-historical subject. Finally, I will discuss the role of European self-reflection in relation to a horizon of intercultural dialogue and narration from a post-/decolonial perspective. (shrink)

The paper is devoted to the problem of historical development of university community through the lenses of understanding of university mission. The authors undertake critical reflections of the scheme of evolution of university mission, which was elaborated by American researcher John Scott, as far as add some theoretical and methodological suggestions to this scheme. In this respect, typical for late medieval university mission of teaching and corporate based building of university community in the modern times (...) are supplemented by the mission of research. At the same time, university is incorporated in the system of arising nation-state as a tool for preparation highly-qualified bureaucrats for its apparatus. In postmodern times in the context of globalization and certain emancipation of the university from the state such aspects of university mission as the different forms of civil service or the third mission of university become more and more important. (shrink)

Globalism is probably the most frequently used term describing our current age. Found in many contexts, it is often a vague concept referring to a host of different figurations of post-industrial society. European expansion, the growth of the global economy, mass immigration and the planetary expansion of international relations are merely some of the phenomena associated with globalism. Yet globalism taken in its most neutral form of global history is not merely a trendy catch-all phrase for the challenges of (...) our age but has its origins in the efforts of the enlightenment—to rewrite the theological universal histories of the Middle Ages. There is a close relationship between the historiography of universal history and the current ideology of globalism. By juxtaposing the two main strands of universal history (the universal history of mankind vs. the cyclical history of individual peoples) to the problem of European identity, I show that the theoretical problems which caused the demise of universal history continue to plague globalism. Such an analysis of the ideological foundations of globalism is central not only to the current debate on the (re-) construction of European history, but also in the discussion on what constitutes European ideas. ☆ This essay is a revised version of a talk held at the Society for the Humanities, Cornell University, in the Fall of 2005. I would like to thank Dominick LaCapra, Leslie Adelson and Davydd Greenwood for the opportunity to give this talk at Cornell. I thank Louis N. Kurs of St. John's College for his stimulating conversation on the matter. (shrink)

This essay discusses the changes promoted in European universities by the ‘Bologna Process’ and the ‘European Higher Education Area’. Through an analysis of the main policy documents and mechanisms, the paper demonstrates that the European Higher Education Area is designed to dismantle academic autonomy across the continent. Before setting out to examine this transnational policy process, the paper specifies in its first part the meaning of academic autonomy – a particular European creation, as it argues – (...) through an overview of the historical material. (shrink)

'The evaluation and ranking of our universities and their departments is here to stay. Should we oppose them, denounce them, sabotage them as much as we can? Or can and should we use them, refashion them, expand them, in such a way that our universities end up fulfilling their various functions better than before, without worsening our lives or those of our students in the process?' These were the questions put to the keynote speakers and over one hundred participants at (...) the 7th Ethical Forum of the University Foundation. As usual, the speakers presented contrasting viewpoints and the discussion was lively. The text below is a much expanded version of the personal conclusions formulated at the end of the Forum by its coordinator. (shrink)

The contribution tackles the analytical and hermeneutic problem, implied in today's notion of the 17-century “Scientific Revolution”, which comes to the front in trying to come to grips with the notion of European science, its discovery in Antiquity and its history in Middle Ages and Modern Age. We shall try to argue that, in its core, this revolution implies a notional revolution. The contribution investigates the function the of notions of “theory”, “doctrine” and “system”, which are constitutive for the (...) formation of science, each in itself being correlative to a specific type of scientific units attributed to the classical-Greek , Christian-Mediaeval , and modern notion of science . Pondering on the topic of these notions and their shifts in the Modern Age is the key towards a new understanding of the history of science, extending beyond the borders of the existing conceptions as based on natural sciences. (shrink)

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom Government notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union legal order. On 31 January 2020, the UK entered a transition period, during which it remains bound to the EU Treaty Framework. This review essay examines the near three-year period of the UK’s attempted cessation from the EU. It argues that what is most striking about the Brexit case is that it reveals the extent to which EU (...) member states remain bound by ideologies and tropes developed during the era of European colonisation—even in their relationship with each other. The review essay draws upon Brenna Bhandar’s Colonial lives of property: Law, Land and racial regimes of ownership, Danny Dorling and Sally Tomlinson’s Rule Britannia: Brexit and the end of empire, and Eva Mackey’s Unsettled expectations: Uncertainty, land and settler decolonization to show how Brexit bears upon themes that have long preoccupied postcolonial scholars working in a variety of contexts and geographical locations. From the Brexit example, the review article highlights the persistence of colonial projects of invention and the appropriative techniques and tropes that attend these and, above all, it highlights the necessity of decolonial violence. (shrink)