Introduction: New demands on universities

The United Kingdom has in recent years imposed a series of new demands on universities under the ‘accountability’ heading, and this lecture examines the character of these demands and warns of some of the damaging or counter-productive effects which can be produced when such measures take a misconceived managerialist form.

Stefan Collini is Professor Emeritus of Intellectual History and English Literature at Cambridge University. His recent books include Absent Minds: Intellectuals in Britain (2006); Common Reading: Critics, Historians, Publics (2008); and Common Writing: Essays on Literary Culture and Public Debate (2016).

Professor Stefan Collini. (Photo: University of Cambridge)

In recent years he has also been an influential voice in debates over the character of higher education, notably with What Are Universities For? (2012) and Speaking of Universities (2017).

He is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Historical Society, and a frequent contributor to The London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Nation, and other periodicals.

Dette er podkastversjonen av et foredrag i Forum for vitenskap og demokrati ved Universitetet i Bergen. Foredraget ble holdt av Stefan Collini 6. april 2017 i Egget, Studentsenteret i Bergen. Foredraget og introduksjonen er på engelsk.

Podcasten er produsert av Ingjald Pilskog, postdoktor ved Uni Research Klima. Ansvarlig for forelesningen er Anders Johansen ved Institutt for informasjons- og medievitenskap.