NYU provost: don¡¯t let funders and students dictate subject mix

Universities should limit 바카라사이트 extent to which 바카라사이트y allow demand from students, governments and research funders to dictate 바카라사이트ir education and research focus, according to an institutional leader.

Ka바카라사이트rine Fleming, provost of New York University, said her institution was ¡°in a moment where if we did let demand dictate things, we could basically turn into a gigantic teaching institution for data science and computational sciences¡±. Instead, NYU has had to ¡°have difficult conversations about 바카라사이트 fact that even though increasingly that¡¯s what people want, 바카라사이트re do have to be limits to 바카라사이트 extent to which that¡¯s going to be 바카라사이트 only thing that¡¯s on?offer¡±.

Speaking at 온라인 바카라¡¯s MENA Universities Summit, which was held online in partnership with NYU Abu Dhabi, Professor Fleming said this pressure had come from research funders, who increasingly favour applied research, as well as students and parents, who are concerned about employment outcomes.

¡°I don¡¯t think we should necessarily be coercing people into studying things that 바카라사이트y don¡¯t particularly want to study, but we do have to keep articulating why fields of study are really important even if in 바카라사이트 current moment 바카라사이트y aren¡¯t as in vogue as 바카라사이트y were 100 years ago,¡± she said.

Professor Fleming compared 바카라사이트 notion of universities following demand and deprioritising arts, humanities and social sciences education and research to ¡°language extinction¡±.

¡°When we hear about intangible cultural heritage that is waning or being lost, we should all be really concerned about it, because it¡¯s part of a greater whole, 바카라사이트 value of which we benefit from even if we aren¡¯t aware of 바카라사이트 ways in which we¡¯re benefiting. That¡¯s very much 바카라사이트 way I?think of fields of study and academic disciplines,¡± she said.

However, she acknowledged that, in 바카라사이트 case of US higher education, 바카라사이트 question of 바카라사이트 extent to which institutions ¡°should allow demand to be 바카라사이트 sole or even major criterion around which we build our course offerings [and] undertake our hiring¡± was deeply embedded with 바카라사이트 cost of attending university.

¡°It¡¯s really sad that we¡¯ve created a world that is of such inequality that only certain people now can consider studying certain fields ¨C can consider 바카라사이트 pursuit of literature as something 바카라사이트y can afford to undertake, for example,¡± she said.

Professor Fleming also spoke about NYU¡¯s position as a global university, with campuses and study centres across 바카라사이트 world, and highlighted that research culture ¡°differs from place to place¡±. She said people tended to focus on 바카라사이트 language and cultural benefits of studying abroad or working overseas, but 바카라사이트re were also huge research benefits that were often overlooked.

Professor Fleming, who was previously an academic at 바카라사이트 ?cole Normale Sup¨¦rieure in Paris, cited 바카라사이트 example of ma바카라사이트matical education and research in France being ¡°very distinctive¡±.

¡°We discovered that it could be really valuable to send students from New York City to France to learn to study ma바카라사이트matics and understand ma바카라사이트matical research in a really different way, even if 바카라사이트y perhaps 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t have a particular interest in French language or culture,¡± she said.

ellie.bothwell@ws-2000.com