Universities Under Attack

Students protesting government spending cuts at Manchester University.

The Europaeum co-supported an important conference on the current state of Higher Education in the UK. The event on Universities Under Attack was held at King College, London University, on November 26th, and included prominent scholars, policy -makers, and educators from Europe and the US. Themes to be discussed included tuition fees, research assessment exercises, centralised administration, marketisation.

The conference was run by The New York Review of Books, and other co-sponsors include the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo, and the London Review of Books with support from The Oxford Magazine and The Times Higher Magazine. For more information click here.

Chair and Introduction to the Conference: Tim Horder (Oxford, Editor Oxford Magazine)

10.00-11.30  PANEL I: Universities in a Corporate World
Chair: Tim Horder (Editor, Oxford Magazine)

• Howard Hotson (Oxford)
• Simon Head (Oxford and NYU)
• Michael Wood (Princeton)

12-1.30 PANEL II: What Kind of  University ?
Chair: Paul Flather (The Europaeum, Oxford)

• Helena Kennedy (House of Lords, Oxford)
• Stefan Collini (Cambridge)
• Peter Scott (Institute of Education, London)

2.30-4.00 PANEL III: HEFCE and the RAE/REF: Academic  Labour as a Factor of Production ?  
Chair: Ann Mroz (Editor, THE)

• Paola Mattei (Oxford)
• Matthew Feldman (Northampton)
• Rachel Malik (Middlesex)

4.30-6.00 PANEL IV: Beyond the White Paper. What Is To Be Done ? 
Chair: Peter Scott (Institute of Education, London)

• Keith Thomas (Oxford)
• Terence Kealey (Buckingham)
• Susan Wright (University of Aarhus)