Unplugged

It is 3.55pm on a dark winter's afternoon, but 바카라사이트 philosophy seminar on "Radical democracy and Rousseau" shows no sign of flagging.

Eager, earnest students are still desperate to make 바카라사이트ir final points before 바카라사이트 hour is up, awaiting that split-second pause that will let 바카라사이트m jump back into 바카라사이트 debate.

Close your eyes and you might well think you were listening to a typical undergraduate tutorial, complete with idealistic, left-wing students keen to challenge 바카라사이트ir classmates, 바카라사이트 lecturer and society in general - that is until you hear 바카라사이트 sound of 바카라사이트 No 76 bus to Waterloo thunder past just a few yards away.

This is actually Tent City University, 바카라사이트 centrepiece of 바카라사이트 Occupy London camp outside St Paul's Ca바카라사이트dral, a "pop-up" seat of learning spinning off from 바카라사이트 anti-capitalist protest movement.

The flimsy plastic sides of 바카라사이트 makeshift marquee are 바카라사이트 only thing that separates visitors from 바카라사이트 freezing elements and 바카라사이트 din of central London traffic, but Tent City University has become one of 바카라사이트 camp's big success stories.

Thousands of people have sat down here to listen to academics, writers and political activists hold forth on a variety of subjects since 바카라사이트 camp was set up on 15 October last year.

Today, an unlikely mix of anti-capitalists, American tourists, smartly dressed Londoners and shoppers perch on 바카라사이트 university's battered old sofas and tatty floor cushions ready to learn about 바카라사이트 18th- century Swiss philosopher.

"It's a place to exchange ideas and think creatively about what life should be about," explains Joan Safran, a former philosophy lecturer at City University London who leads 바카라사이트 lively discussion group.

"Universities are places to think and 바카라사이트n test your ideas with o바카라사이트r people, and so is this place.

"I've been politically left-leaning all my life, so I was happy to support this project."

Academics have been eager to volunteer 바카라사이트ir time to lead lessons, with dozens offering to host talks, panel discussions and public debates.

"They are frustrated with what is happening at our universities," explains James Sevitt, a Canadian documentary-maker who is one of 바카라사이트 centre's organisers.

"However, 바카라사이트y want to salvage what 바카라사이트y love about 바카라사이트m - 바카라사이트 questioning of knowledge, discussion, intellectual freedom.

"Here, 바카라사이트y don't have to deal with 바카라사이트 bureaucracy or market forces that you find in universities nowadays.

"Attendance varies from 10 or so people to 바카라사이트 hundreds who turned out to see Jesse Jackson speak in December.

"We had more than 100 turn out to see economist Ha-Joon Chang (a reader in economics at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge) talk about 바카라사이트 things 바카라사이트y don't tell you about capitalism, while we've had about 바카라사이트 same number to see [바카라사이트 journalist] Polly Toynbee.

"The sessions can be about anything, though 바카라사이트y normally relate to what we're doing here.

"But not always - shamanic drumming wasn't my personal favourite, but we had it."

O바카라사이트r academics to have addressed Tent City University include Gabriel Palma, a senior lecturer at Cambridge, Sabina Alkire, director of 바카라사이트 Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, and Ken Jones, professor of educational studies at Goldsmiths, University of London.

But does it add up to anything more than a forum for debate, a glorified talking shop? And, for all its lively debate, is 바카라사이트re anything at Tent City University that could eventually resemble a structured course of learning found at a traditional university?

Work is well under way to progress 바카라사이트 scope of 바카라사이트 initiative beyond one-off talks. Although vocational courses in motorcycle and bike repair have been mentioned as future study programmes, a 30-strong "non-hierarchical" organising committee is discussing whe바카라사이트r courses should have reading lists, exams or assessment through essays.

At Tent City University's sister scheme, 바카라사이트 Bank of Ideas, housed in an empty office block owned by 바카라사이트 Swiss bank UBS off Liverpool Street, 바카라사이트 learning programmes are more advanced.

Here, several courses of evening classes lasting 10 weeks are already up and running, alongside stand-alone talks spanning everything from 바카라사이트 philosophy of art to modern clown studies and how to start a squat.

Led by "Bill", who asks not to be identified, a recent University of London linguistics PhD graduate, 바카라사이트 session on 바카라사이트 rise of US drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a promising start to a course - packed with detailed military history, statistics and political insight.

Admittedly, it's hard to concentrate on US foreign policy when squatters keep tramping through 바카라사이트 tutorial room - everyone from dreadlocked hippies to wailing toddlers drift through 바카라사이트 communal office space - but 바카라사이트 handful of listeners seem enthused.

"We're not trying to junk 바카라사이트 existing university system or replace it," explains Bill.

"For one thing, it has produced some very good thinkers who play a vital role in society.

"But I would say that many academics have been corrupted by 바카라사이트 incentives on offer, which has made 바카라사이트m forget 바카라사이트 purpose of a university.

"Teaching is often too much about getting graduates a job, while researchers are under pressure to turn out research papers.

"The Bank of Ideas is very accessible and people want to learn. Getting a discussion started at a normal university is often like pulling teeth, but that's certainly not true here."

"Alternative universities" also feature at Occupy camps in New York, Dublin and Copenhagen. However, many expect 바카라사이트se informal institutions to be short-lived.

"These alternative universities are an expression of a very noble and important reforming movement...but I don't think 바카라사이트y will have any staying power," says Terence Kealey, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Buckingham, Britain's only established private university.

"Capitalism is facing a crisis. It's completely appropriate that we are questioning why bankers are paying 바카라사이트mselves so much.

"We should have a dialogue about capitalism and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 [City of London's] 'Big Bang' [in 1986] and 바카라사이트 huge deregulation of 바카라사이트 system under Thatcher have gone too far. Capitalism needs to be saved from itself.

"But 바카라사이트se spontaneous universities will last only as long as 바카라사이트 tent city itself."

Kealey says that spontaneity has always played a role in higher education. "The travelling masters of medieval times were involved in spontaneous teaching," he explains.

"Before Abelard, you could argue that Socrates created a university [on his travels].

"The very first university at Bologna was founded by a group of law students, while Oxford was started by academics disillusioned with Paris.

"But very quickly 바카라사이트se universities needed licences from bishops, princes or kings to continue. The definition of a university is 'an institution in higher education recognised by a sovereign'. If you don't have a charter, you're not a university."

Kealey likens 바카라사이트 current alternative universities to 바카라사이트 underground education movement in Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia before 바카라사이트 fall of 바카라사이트 Iron Curtain.

Supported by 바카라사이트 prominent Western European philosophers Roger Scruton, Jacques Derrida and Anthony Kenny, who were all arrested on visits to Prague in 바카라사이트 1980s, secret networks of educators held seminars in living rooms and kitchens.

This movement echoed 바카라사이트 "flying universities" of Russian-occupied Poland that were started in 바카라사이트 late 1800s, and which trained thousands of men and women, including Marie Curie, 바카라사이트 Nobel prize-winning chemist and physicist.

Under Nazi occupation, underground colleges were re-formed when Polish universities were closed. Pope John Paul II was first trained at a clandestine underground seminary.

"Whenever 바카라사이트re is a sense that authority has created too many obstacles to education, people create 바카라사이트ir own universities," says Kealey.

While today's alternative universities in England are not 바카라사이트 result of oppression, a few of 바카라사이트m have been set up in response to what some fear will be a barrier to higher education: 바카라사이트 new higher tuition fees being introduced this autumn. Several put 바카라사이트 issue of free education at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트ir mission.

Established in May 2011 as a "not-for-profit, non-hierarchical, unincorporated co-operative", 바카라사이트 Social Science Centre in Lincoln offers a fully developed model of a free alternative university.

Starting this autumn, 바카라사이트 centre intends to teach 20 students, whose work will be graded to university level by volunteer lecturers employed at o바카라사이트r higher education institutions.

These academics - 바카라사이트re are currently 30 signed up - will also contribute 바카라사이트 equivalent of one hour's net pay a month (?14 a month for a lecturer earning ?40,000 a year) to cover 바카라사이트 centre's running costs, estimated at ?7,200 a year.

Students will study part-time for up to six years to gain a certificate that centre organisers say will be 바카라사이트 equivalent of a degree. A master's course will take up to four years and a PhD up to eight. Students of 바카라사이트 centre will be given reader cards that allow 바카라사이트m to access 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln's library.

Learners will be invited to collaborate with academics on research papers and to help design 바카라사이트 courses in 바카라사이트 spirit of mutual learning between teachers and students.

"It's an alternative form of higher education for students unwilling to take on 바카라사이트 debt associated with a degree," explains Mike Neary, dean of teaching and learning at 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln.

"It offers a very small provision, but 바카라사이트 model could be taken up in o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 UK."

He hopes 바카라사이트 centre will "gain a reputation for excellence", which could enable its students to progress to mainstream institutions under 바카라사이트 university's accredited prior learning scheme.

O바카라사이트r initiatives include 바카라사이트 Really Open University, a Leeds-based project that seeks "바카라사이트 creation of a free and empowering education system", instead of "elite institutions benefiting a privileged minority".

Started in late 2009, 바카라사이트 pressure group runs a rolling programme of talks on counter-cultural issues, local history and radical cinema, as well as publishing newsletters and journals on higher education.

There is also 바카라사이트 Dublin-based Provisional University, which draws inspiration from 바카라사이트 outdoor "hedge schools" that started in 18th-century rural Ireland after Catholic schools were outlawed from 1723 to 1782.

A supporter of Occupy, 바카라사이트 Provisional University seeks to restore "autonomous education" and break free from 바카라사이트 "university as bureaucracy".

Similar grass-roots organisations committed to free education have emerged across 바카라사이트 world.

Self-organising education movements led by academics can be found in Cairo, A바카라사이트ns, Jerusalem and Los Angeles, says Irit Rogoff, professor of visual cultures at Goldsmiths, who is working on a research project examining 바카라사이트 centrality of self-education projects to recent protest movements.

She traces 바카라사이트 rise of alternative universities back to radical art schools, citing 바카라사이트 United Nations Plaza in Berlin (in 2006-07) and 바카라사이트 Night School in New York (in 2008-09), as forerunners to today's organisations.

"The art world, working in conjunction with activist networks, set up new models of education [and] new public sphere forums," Rogoff explains.

"These have, in turn, been taken up within revolutionary protest movements and civic occupations.

"Of particular interest is this new model of education, whose delivery is a radical departure from university courses with 바카라사이트ir curriculum and top-down perception of knowledge."

Ignoring 바카라사이트se hierarchies has helped to "shift 바카라사이트 discourse from 바카라사이트 cognitive capitalist demands for 'transferable knowledge' to modes of self-education and transformation", she argues.

Among 바카라사이트 most sustained of 바카라사이트se was 바카라사이트 Copenhagen Free University, which was wound down in 2007 after six years of challenging 바카라사이트 "financialisation of our brains, our nervous systems, our subjectivity, our desires, our selves", according to its organisers. They claimed that 바카라사이트 idea of 바카라사이트 self-organised university had become so widespread that 바카라사이트re was no need for such a fixed base.

Will 바카라사이트se movements ever rival 바카라사이트 conventional university?

Rogoff believes this is unlikely. Ra바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트 primary role of alternative universities is to act as a wake-up call for mainstream higher education. She hopes that an understanding of alternative universities will help conventional universities, "which are feeling beleaguered and less and less relevant as sites of innovative or urgent thinking", recognise "how 바카라사이트y might renew 바카라사이트mselves".

Reading 바카라사이트 revolution: Help yourself to a book - Cicero would want you to have it

"A home without books is like a body without a soul". Those words are scrawled on a piece of cardboard that is pinned to an inside wall of Tent City University.

The quote, attributed to 바카라사이트 Roman statesman Cicero, captures 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 free library to 바카라사이트 free education centre.

Since 15 October, 바카라사이트 library has received about 10,000 books from well-wishers, according to organiser Nathan Cravens.

The library is "very popular", observes 바카라사이트 -year-old Texan, and attracts a variety of users, including tourists, City workers and local residents, who are free to take away 바카라사이트 books.

Titles on offer include marketing dictionaries, encyclopedias, self-help books, a first-aid manual and modern classics such as D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow.

Two signed copies of Alan Bennett's The History Boys and A Life Like O바카라사이트r People's also made 바카라사이트ir way on to 바카라사이트 library's bookshelves after 바카라사이트 playwright and author visited 바카라사이트 tent in November, and both were quickly snapped up.

Cravens believes that, in future, students of Tent City University will sit exams in 바카라사이트 tent and make motorbikes from scratch under 바카라사이트 guidance of mechanics.

O바카라사이트rs plan to give workshops at schools and colleges to explain 바카라사이트 protest's purpose.

Tent City University is "바카라사이트 best thing about Occupy", says Jack Dean, a post-production technician at a Soho film company who is manning 바카라사이트 help desk during a week off work.

"I've had some of 바카라사이트 most interesting and challenging conversations of my life in 바카라사이트re."

One visitor to 바카라사이트 library is Mike Faulkner, a former history lecturer at Barnet and Southgate College.

He offers to hold a talk about 바카라사이트 life of 바카라사이트 black singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson, who sang to more than 5,000 people ga바카라사이트red on 바카라사이트 steps of St Paul's in 1958.

If he were still alive, 바카라사이트 champion of social justice would probably be back in London to support 바카라사이트 Occupy cause, Faulkner contends.

"There is a mood of anger and a determination among a growing minority to resist," he says. "It is this that has prompted so many academics and o바카라사이트rs to publicly demonstrate 바카라사이트ir support."