Overview

The goal of this course is to (re)think the meaning and function of the “modern university” by following its transformation from its (re)configuration in the era of Enlightenment to today, the “Information Age”, “post-modern”, “post-truth” society, characterized by fast flows of knowledge and financial capital. After a brief introduction to the conceptualization of the university by the Enlightenment philosophers such as Kant and idealists such as Fichte, we will follow how the perception and function of the university changed with the consolidation of the nation-states, enhancement of social-democracy and welfare states, and then with their demise in the era of globalization and ascendency of finance. What kind of discussions have taken place within the universities between public intellectuals and academics in each era? How did the public perception of the university change? What re(formations) and re(formulations) of policies took place at the political and policy-making level? How did the citizens of the nation-state come to see the university as the regime characterized by social democratic values left its place to neoliberal values? Through a close look at several countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Turkey, the readings and discussions in this course will try to answer these and similar questions. The US, UK and Germany are cases that stand for the conceptualization and materialization of the “modern university”, therefore investigation of the transformation in these countries is crucial. The Turkish case represents the transformation in question in a Southern country in which not only the economic developments but also the hegemonic political and economic paradigms emulate those of the Northern ones. The final session(s) of the course will be devoted to thinking and discussing what the transformations in question mean about the value of knowledge and freedom of thought.