CFP Deadline: January 8, 2012.
The 2012 World Universities Forum (WUF) will be held at the University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece from 8 to 10 January. This year marks the Universities Forum’s fifth meeting and continues its examination of the current status and future possibilities of the university. In 2012, the World Universities Forum maintains its commitment to this broad theme, and welcomes papers on a range of relevant topics.
In light of one of today’s most pressing questions, the special focus of the plenary sessions at this year’s WUF will be: “Beyond the Neoliberal University?.” This focus is intentionally interrogative because, while the neoliberal university is currently the dominant model, its long-term viability is in question. All around the world a broad range of related measures — including budget cuts and austerity policies, privatization, managerialism and de-professionalization, growing student indebtedness, and “academic capitalism” and its elevation of readily marketable research — are compromising, or at least changing, the university’s traditional role as an essential institution for both individual opportunity and broad societal improvement. The 2012 WUF aspires to initiate a conversation on how the we might address the profound impact of the neoliberal model of the university and consider new possibilities for the future.
This special focus will be discussed by a distinguished group of plenary speakers, including:
• Ronald Barnett, Professor, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom
• Fatma Gök, Professor and Chair, Educational Sciences Department, Bogaziçi University, Turkey
• Barbara M. Kehm, Professor of Higher Education Research and Head, International Center for Higher Education Research, University of Kassel, Germany
• António Nóvoa, Rector, University of Lisbon, Portugal
• George Ritzer, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, USA
In recognition of the challenges faced by universities in Greece, the host country of this year’s Forum, the program will also feature a special panel, “The Future of Greek Higher Education.” This panel will include: • Chryssi Vitsilaki, Professor and Director of Post-Graduate Program, School of the Humanities, University of the Aegean, Greece • Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of California, Davis, USA • Mary Kalantzis, Dean, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
The 2012 World Universities Forum welcomes proposals from academics, higher education administrators, researchers, policy makers and any others who would like to bring their insight and expertise to the topic of the university and its possibilities. If you would like to join the discussion, we welcome you to submit a presentation proposal for the 2012 WUF. Presentation options, and other details, are listed on the Forum website:
http://ontheuniversity.com/conference-2012/.