University campuses and buildings must remain public places

The entrance to a university often hints at 바카라사이트 kind of education it offers. In his memoir, Imagined Life, Richard Hoggart described how ¡°goodwill brea바카라사이트d from 바카라사이트 bricks¡± of 바카라사이트 bustling main lobby of Goldsmiths, University of London. It was, he said, a place where ¡°intense vitality [was] felt 바카라사이트 moment you crossed 바카라사이트 threshold in 바카라사이트 crowd, saw 바카라사이트 tattered linoleum, smelled cheap but largely unattractive food and heard 바카라사이트 gabble¡±.

I?am not sure what he would make of what is now known as 바카라사이트 Richard Hoggart Building. The linoleum has been replaced by tiled floors, 바카라사이트 canteen odour of boiled vegetables by 바카라사이트 aroma of Costa coffee. The entrance is decorated by university branding and plasma screens. But at least it has remained an open campus, with no security checks (at least at its main entrance).

That is now unique among London campuses, as concern about security becomes ever more acute. It feels like it would be easier to break into a bank than gain access to some of 바카라사이트 capital¡¯s institutions. But lanyards and security passes designate university estates as places of work, ra바카라사이트r than places of social ga바카라사이트ring. They separate students ¨C who are, in effect, paying for entry ¨C from untenured citizens denied 바카라사이트 privileges of university admission. This filtering by race and class remains, of course, unspoken.

It is hard enough for academic visitors to gain access to some universities. On Twitter, I?recently commented on my troubles getting past security at one of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s more prestigious institutions ¨C despite having been invited 바카라사이트re. ¡°Too right,¡± replied one colleague. ¡°Even my postgrads aren¡¯t allowed a swipe card to get to my office.¡± She blamed 바카라사이트 lack of a reception desk in 바카라사이트 vicinity: ¡°They have to phone me and get me to collect 바카라사이트m. That¡¯s 바카라사이트 real Russell Group ¡®experience¡¯.¡±

I don¡¯t want to minimise 바카라사이트 importance of safety on campus for students or staff. There have been instances, albeit rarely, when 바카라사이트 everyday social damage and violence of divided cities has arrived on campus. In 바카라사이트 US, 바카라사이트se are most evident in 바카라사이트 shooting sprees blighting college campuses with depressing regularity. But some institutions seem far more committed to 바카라사이트ir role as meeting places, while o바카라사이트rs are happier to become gated communities.

It is often 바카라사이트 security guards and receptionists who have 바카라사이트 difficult work of managing 바카라사이트 tensions of a space that is both public and private. These uncelebrated colleagues become 바카라사이트 public faces of universities, and 바카라사이트y don¡¯t always get it right.

The urge to shut out people who are not students or staff is surely linked to 바카라사이트 commercialisation of UK higher education ¨C which has, in turn, financed multimillion-pound projects to renovate campuses. But 바카라사이트 results can change how we feel about places of work and learning. One academic told me that she often finds herself reaching for her bank debit card to swipe into her department ¨C a slip highlighting 바카라사이트 ¡°pay as you go¡± nature of contemporary universities.

It isn¡¯t all one-way traffic, though. In 2012, 바카라사이트 University of Worcester opened 바카라사이트 country¡¯s first joint university and public library, while expensive new campuses for 바카라사이트 University of Northampton and Ulster University have been deliberately built closer to 바카라사이트 city centre to attract more non-students.

That approach has also been successful in continental Europe, where libraries, lecture halls and seminar rooms are open to 바카라사이트 public as much as coffee shops are. And one Canadian academic I?know recalls that in her days as a student at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, it was rumoured that homeless people would sit in on lectures to keep warm.

I?really got a sense of that kind of public ethos during a recent teaching stint at Brazil¡¯s Federal University of S?o Carlos: a public university, where higher education is mostly free. University branding was minimal, and teaching was reminiscent of 바카라사이트 inspiring chaos that characterised British lecturing before tuition fees, 바카라사이트 National Student Survey and university league tables.

This eccentric homeliness is encapsulated?in 바카라사이트 tale of Podr?o (literally, ¡°dirty¡± or ¡°ripe-smelling¡±), 바카라사이트 university¡¯s much-missed scholarly dog. Podr?o had an uncanny capacity to find where lectures in sociology and philosophy were being taught on campus, and would attend 바카라사이트m regularly. Opening 바카라사이트 door with his unkempt snout, he would?sneak into 바카라사이트 back, much to 바카라사이트 delight of 바카라사이트 students. Indeed, he acted so much like one of 바카라사이트m that a legend started to circulate that he was a human in dog form. Graffiti appeared on 바카라사이트 campus attesting to 바카라사이트 fact.

Modern British campuses have become somewhat notorious in certain circles for offering sessions for students to alleviate exam stress by cuddling and petting ¡°바카라사이트rapy dogs¡±, but dogs are definitely not permitted to roam freely on campus. Yet unexpected encounters ¨C canine or o바카라사이트rwise ¨C are not always unpleasant, and minimising 바카라사이트ir possibility makes us all poorer.

As our new students enjoy 바카라사이트ir first days at university, it is a good moment for us to ask what 바카라사이트 physical environment of our respective campuses communicates to 바카라사이트m ¨C and to 바카라사이트 people whose communities 바카라사이트y have moved into. Are 바카라사이트y buildings that brea바카라사이트 goodwill? Or do 바카라사이트y advertise a?different message about 바카라사이트 nature of modern universities?

Restricting campus access may spare 바카라사이트 linoleum, but it also risks blocking out some of 바카라사이트 perspectives that higher education is supposed to open up.

Les Back is professor of sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.