Calendar
SEPTEMBER 26, 13:15–15:00
HERO SEMINAR
The University in the Age of Unbridled Knowledge Production
Robert Frodeman presents ongoing research.
At the founding of the University of Berlin, Wilhelm von Humboldt described scholarship ‘as something not yet achieved and as something that cannot ever be completely achieved’ – i.e., as an infinite research project. Universities still treat the production of knowledge as infinite, even as the center of knowledge production has moved off campus. Whether in the corporate sphere or across social media, knowledge today is unbridled in its pursuit of its political and economic ends. How should the university respond to these new socio-epistemic conditions?
The seminar will be held in English.
Venue: 4-0019, English Park Campus.
Organized by HERO.
A Week on Academic Freedom
Monday October 23 to Friday October 27, 2023
"A Week on Academic Freedom" is a joint initiative by the research program Democracy and Higher Education, Higher Education and Research as Objects of Study, and Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study. A series of events will be organized on the common theme of academic freedom over the course of a week. All events take place in Uppsala between October 23–27.
23 oct. Academic Freedom and Responsibility in Policy and Practice
24 oct. The Relationship between Academia and Society in Troubled Times
25 oct. Hur står det till med den akademiska friheten?
26 oct. Academic Citizenship in Perspective
27 oct. Varieties of Collegiality
For more information, see conference page.
NOVEMBER 14, 13:15–15:00
HERO SEMINAR
Contextualizing capitalism in academia: How capitalist and feudalist organizing principles reinforce each other at Polish universities
Michal Zawadzki and Tommy Jensen presents the article Contextualizing Capitalism in Academia.
In this paper, we show how capitalism and feudalism reinforce each other to enable the former’s success in the higher education context. In this regard, Polish universities are an interesting case due to Poland’s capitalist shock therapy in the 1990s, its Western European membership in the European Union in the 2000s and due to recent reforms intended to modernize Polish academia. Based on 36 interviews with Polish early career academics from urban universities with experience working in watchdogs of higher education, we examine respondents’ perspectives on the current capitalist reforms. They treat ongoing changes as a solution for the problems experienced and defined as “feudal”: political labeling, abuse of power and discrimination against women. Understanding capitalism and feudalism through their organizing principles, the main contribution of this study is that it demonstrates how capitalist organizing principles fix existing feudalist organizing principles to flourish in Polish university. Hence, it is difficult for early career academics to recognize that capitalist organizing principles are in fact reinforcing rather than eliminating (as the advocates of capitalist reforms often claim) feudal problems in Polish academia.
The seminar will be held in English.
Venue: 4-0019, English Park Campus.
Organized by HERO.
NOVEMBER 28, 13:15–15:00
HERO SEMINAR
Rationalization and internationalization: The moral economy of scientific publication c. 1970
Jenny Beckman presents ongoing research on scientific libraries and the system of funding scientific publications in the 1960s and 1970s.
The seminar will be held in English.
Venue: 4-0019, English Park Campus.
Organized by HERO.
DECEMBER 12, 13:15–15:00
HERO SEMINAR
Europeiseringen av universiteteten och kunskapssamhällets formering 1985–2010
Johan Östling (Lunds universitet) presents his new project on the Europeanization of universities and the formation of the knowledge society.
The seminar will be held in Swedish.
Venue: 4-0019, English Park Campus.
Organized by HERO.