4th annual Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education Conference

19–20 October, 2020, Uppsala University, Sweden

“the crisis of the university” is a familiar topos in contemporary discussions about higher education. It is said that the University is facing untold threats from, inter alia, the anti-intellec- tualism of populist politicians and authoritarian regimes, the commodification of knowledge resulting from neo-liberal ideas about utility and international competition, the politicization of teaching and learning arising out of identity movements, the fragmenting of the university in response to stakeholder demands, and so forth.

This conference poses the question: Is this really the case? And, if so, what exactly is be- ing threatened? The aim of the meeting is to take a serious look at what is ultimately at stake, among other things, by examining the roots of these developments in terms of our conceptions of what is useful knowledge, why it is desirable and what is required to establish, maintain and develop it through our institutions of higher education.

Keynotes

KERI FACER Professor of Educational and Social Futures, University of Bristol; Zennström Chair in Climate Change Leadership, University of Uppsala

STEVE FULLER Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, The University of Warwick

The titles of their lectures will be announced shortly on the conference website: https://www.uu.se/phec2020/