What COVID-19 does to our Universities
| Autore | Matthias Klatt |
| Carica | University of Graz |
| Pagine | 1-5 |
1George Steiner, Lessons of the Masters
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What COVID does to our Universies
No mechanical means, however expeditous,
no materialism, however triumphant,
can eradicate the day break we experience
when we have understood a Master.1
Across the globe, COVID-19 is affecting multiple dimensions of our lives, ranging from
the most existential aspects to the more mundane ones. In this brief article, I wish to
reflect upon the impact the pandemic has on our Universities. Let me stress from the
outset that I do not intend to downplay the terrible losses people all over the world have
suffered. Nor do I wish to discuss the proportionality of the protective measures imposed
by the governments, including those taken regarding research and teaching activities on
University campuses. What I do want to address, however, is that COVID-19 currently
functions as a fire accelerant, stimulating highly detrimental processes that flagrantly
run counter to the idea of a University per se. It is vital to prevent COVID-19 from
altering the University experience permanently. To accentuate my point, I will first lay
down what I mean by the “idea of a University per se”. Second, I will present a few
thoughts on why COVID-19 has negative effects on our Universities.
The idea of a “University per se” goes back, inter alia, to the classical
19th-century theories of Alexander von Humboldt and John Henry Newman. According
to these theories, Universities distinguish themselves from other kinds of professional
instruction and training, by providing a liberal education. Understood in this way,
education is a public good that pursues intellectual, cultural, and scientific aims.
Education prepares and enables students to develop genuine autonomy, by introducing
them to the open-ended search for deeper understanding and by stimulating them to
form their minds and attitudes in a protected space. Universities also enable advanced
scholarship. University scholars research fundamental questions, which do not
exclusively answer to the immediate needs of current practical problems.
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