Reinventing the university for the 21st century

[uliforadmin]

With severely limited resources, the WDUi will mostly work online. We are not the first group with this approach and I am looking to learn from similar initiatives.
Recently I read this article, which gave me much food for thought, well beyond the topic of online education:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/u-lab-re ... _b_5669425

U-Lab: Prototyping the 21st-Century University
Quote:

Historically, the classical university was based on the unity of research and teaching and served the purpose of conveying mostly theoretical knowledge. The modern university of the 20th century was based on the unity of research, teaching, and practice, and its emphasis shifted toward providing practical knowledge. What we currently witness can be seen as foreshadowing the next evolutionary stage based on the unity of research, teaching, and societal transformation, with transformation literacy at its core--that is, literacy in the personal, relational, and systemic foundations of leading profound innovation and change.

I am not sure that we really see societal transformation being emphasized by today's universities. In the 1960s,when I started my studies, this was already a goal of many, but, since, the evolution went away from that. But, at least, I see the "unity of research, teaching, and societal transformation" as a helpful vision.

Alas, let's find an online approach to realize that vision.

[ulisp10]

Dear all,
to me, this topic raises several key questions. One of them is which research projects we as WDU supporters would like to pursue. Realistically, we will have to start small. If you have suggestions for small projects which add to the knowledge and wisdom about human dignity, please share them as replies here.

[lbeaumont]

Research is a valuable university activity. Here are some suggested topics to get us started:

The wisdom and the future research center
Causes of Suboptimal Life Experiences
Improving our Social Operating Systems
The Level 5 Research Center is helping to shape the next big thing.

[DavidYamada]

In contemplating what WDUi can do pertinent to Uli's prompt of reinventing the university for the 21st century, I am drawn to both history and the art of the possible.

In terms of history, I join with Evelin Lindner and others in invoking schools established by ancient Greek philosophers -- Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and so on -- that were mainly about teaching and learning through dialogue, sans departments, credit hours, and degrees entered the realm. And picking up on Leland's point about the importance of research, we can both foster collaborations and share the fruits of our work published elsewhere via this medium. Even with our very limited resources (as Uli aptly observes), the combination of platforms such as Zoom and this site built by Uli make all of those activities very possible for us.

In terms of the art of the possible, while we should definitely expand our vision beyond current circumstances, the reality is that we cannot provide administrative or financial support to those within our community who wish to engage in various educational initiatives. Thus, for the foreseeable future, if someone has a great idea for WDUi that gets us all enthused, then hopefully they can also commit to doing a lot of the grunt work to bring it to fruition.

David Yamada

[lbeaumont]

Philosopher Nicholas Maxwell has long argued that The Academy must shift from knowledge inquiry to wisdom inquiry. Perhaps we have an opportunity to create WDU as wisdom centered (not that far from dignity centered) from the start.

[lbeaumont]

How are WDU courses created? If a ready, willing, and able educator wants to create and contribute a course to WDU, how does she proceed? Do we have anything analogous to Creating Wikiversity Courses for WDU?

[DavidYamada]

How are WDU courses created? If a ready, willing, and able educator wants to create and contribute a course to WDU, how does she proceed? Do we have anything analogous to Creating Wikiversity Courses for WDU?

Hi Leland, thanks so much for your question.

Based on my recent exchanges & conversations with Evelin, Linda, and Uli, I can say with some degree of confidence that we will be favoring proposals containing interactive components that bring people into conversation, either live (likely online) and/or via written contributions (e.g., using this Forum). This could be in the form of many different learning activities, such as courses, seminars, workshops, discussion groups, and so forth.

Thus, we do not have anything like the Wikiversity course template that you shared with us, nor is it likely that we will develop something as formal or uniform. However, I have posted a Topic item on "Partnering and Co-Sponsoring with WDUi," which offers some guidance on submitting a proposal:
https://www.worlddignityuniversity.org/forum/topic/18

This will be an evolving process, and it is possible that we will have more specifically articulated guidelines as things unfold. But this is our starting point. I hope this is helpful!

[ulisp10]

How are WDU courses created? If a ready, willing, and able educator wants to create and contribute a course to WDU, how does she proceed? Do we have anything analogous to Creating Wikiversity Courses for WDU?

I don't plan for something comparable to the Wikiversity user guide. Preparing content to be read is certainly a valuable tool. But beyond that, our community of scholars and practicioners has a broad range of teaching experiences. I look forward to their individual approach, with a focus on co-learning in personal contact and dignifying relationship.

[lbeaumont]

David,
Uli,

Thanks for this clarification.

I am now curious as to how WDU is manifest.

For example, how does a student find the learning resources and learning opportunities offered by WDU?

How does an educator become affiliated with WDU, or affiliate learning resources and learning opportunities with WDU?

For example, Tuesday night I am giving a talk on climate change to a classroom of students at the local community college. Is that talk affiliated with WDU? Why or why not?

Thanks for your patience with this.

[lbeaumont]

I fondly recall the time I spent as an undergraduate student browsing, researching, and studying in the university library.

Certainly, WDU deserves to feature a fine library; what would be most fitting?

I recently began to learn of The Society Library. Their mission is to archive humanity’s ideas, ideologies, and worldviews for future generations to access, understand, and more willfully choose to adopt or adapt. They seek to gather all of society’s viewpoints in one place. They practice sincere inquiry after truth.

Their virtues and values are well chosen and align well with those of WDU.

They are developing a number of debate topics, including several that are relevant to the WDU work.

They are also developing an innovative and modern library on many topics relevant to the WDU work.

The development of the society library is in its early stages. I plan to monitor the development and if it becomes worthy, I will recommend it as a WDU resource.

Others may also wish to monitor the development of this unique resource; or suggests alternatives as a component of the WDU library.