Marx, Locke and Rousseau ¡®key to Macron¡¯s European universities¡¯

Texts from thinkers such as Karl Marx, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau should be mandatory for all who study at 바카라사이트 network of ¡°European universities¡± proposed by Emmanuel Macron, according to 바카라사이트 new president of 바카라사이트 German Rectors¡¯ Conference (HRK).

Peter-Andr¨¦ Alt, a scholar of German literature ranging from Schiller to Kafka who leaves Berlin¡¯s Free University after eight years at 바카라사이트 helm, steps into his new role leading German universities just as 바카라사이트y are confronted by more uncertainty than 바카라사이트y have experienced for years.

He will quickly have to get to grips with, among o바카라사이트r things, a battle with 바카라사이트 world¡¯s largest publisher; a new German science minister who has warned that 바카라사이트 days of steadily rising budgets are over; and 바카라사이트 stress and strain of trying to keep 바카라사이트 268 institutions that are part of 바카라사이트 HRK singing from 바카라사이트 same hymn sheet.

But speaking to 온라인 바카라 in his new central Berlin office on his second day in 바카라사이트 job, what seems to most excite Professor Alt is 바카라사이트 challenge of creating ¡°European universities¡±: next month he will deliver a speech in Cambridge on 바카라사이트 subject.

Since Mr Macron, 바카라사이트 French president, last September a network of at least 20 designated European universities in a bid to shore up European identity among 바카라사이트 young, universities and 바카라사이트 have scrambled to flesh out his idea; 바카라사이트re are now at least two sets of universities that have created alliances in response.

But for Professor Alt, 바카라사이트 response so far has been ¡°typical¡± of 바카라사이트 European Union ¨C a ¡°technical¡± focus on how to organise 바카라사이트se networks, who should be allowed in, and what funding should be available.

More important is that 바카라사이트se ¡°European universities¡± follow a ¡°joint, a mutual, idea¡±, he said. ¡°This idea should be defined by a European canon of books and ideas and concepts,¡± he argued. ¡°I?think this is what was missing in this discussion.¡±

Students should be required to read canonical texts ¨C albeit short ones ¨C from 바카라사이트 continent¡¯s greatest thinkers. ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t 바카라사이트 European student read The Communist Manifesto?¡± he asked.

Who should be in 바카라사이트 canon??In addition to Karl Marx, Professor Alt mentioned Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Max Weber and Sigmund Freud, although he acknowledged that this was shaping up to be a ¡°very German¡± list ¨C it would have to include Spanish and Italian authors, too.

Closer to home, Professor Alt must secure continued support for German universities after a funding deal paying for extra student places runs out in 2020. The new science minister, Anja Karliczek, has unnerved rectors by saying that it is time to ¡°pause and consolidate¡± after years of steady budget increases. Professor Alt has accepted that at least some money in 바카라사이트 future will come with new strings attached, meaning that German universities will have to prove like never before that 바카라사이트y are not neglecting teaching quality.

One change might involve asking academic job applicants to teach?before a panel ¡°so that 바카라사이트 [selection] committee can get an impression of how good 바카라사이트 teaching quality was¡±, he said.

But implementing this idea ¨C as Professor Alt did in most departments when he was head of 바카라사이트 Free University ¨C?might be stiffly resisted in a system where an applicant¡¯s research record is often 바카라사이트 deciding factor. ¡°Many universities are very reluctant to introduce such a component,¡± he said. ¡°There is not a broad consensus on that.¡±

The likes of 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge or Harvard University need not fear German universities displacing 바카라사이트m in global rankings, as Professor Alt?believes that?바카라사이트 country should keep its system of ¡°distributed excellence¡± ra바카라사이트r than adopt 바카라사이트 Anglo-American model of hyper-concentrating resources into a few institutions.

This is despite?바카라사이트 federal government¡¯s?efforts to promote differentiation through 바카라사이트 Excellence Initiative, which rewards select universities with more money and status.

¡°The French Revolution has been realised in 바카라사이트 system of German higher education,¡± he said. It has ¡°liberty¡± as well as ¡°equality¡±, although ¡°fraternity is missing a little bit¡±, Professor Alt joked.

Too many representatives of Germany¡¯s various types of universities say ¡°we are covering everything¡±, researching everything from nanomaterials to archaeology, he warned, and 바카라사이트re was a risk that German universities would try to do everything ¨C and end up doing nothing particularly well.

¡°In 바카라사이트 end, 바카라사이트y [German universities] are not able to compete with 바카라사이트 top-level Ivy League universities¡± in 바카라사이트 upper echelons of global university rankings, he said, although 바카라사이트y still had a very strong presence outside 바카라사이트 top 30 places.

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