webinar: “The Global 21st Century Research University: Choices, Challenges, Futures.” Regarding developments at The University of the West Indies: The silence persists around the tenure of the Vice Chancellor Prof Hilary Beckles, and the proposals on faculty governance. There was a special event on the contested space of universities across the Global South and Global North, that was held Thursday, April 22, 2021 5:30pm EST / 4:30pm in Jamaica
The research university, like other major civic institutions, is a site of renewed contestation and possibility. The perilous limits of global modernity are apparent on university campuses across the Global South and Global North. Now, more than ever, universities are places of contestation over the social value of research and education, especially with regards to equity, restorative justice, and social transformation. The recent debate at The University of the West Indies over the recommendations of the Chancellor’s Report, especially those that would affect the social justice agenda and global reach of that institution under the current Vice Chancellor, has brought these issues into sharp focus. We invite five renowned scholars to discuss the meaning of the research university: What was the social role of research and higher education in the late twentieth century, and what should it be in the future? Whose interests should the university serve? What is the research university’s social and ethical charge?