The New University: Local Solutions to a Global Crisis

404 Inklings #4

by James Coe

What is a university for? They educate and set people up for their futures; they teach, research, employ – often irritate. We talk about developing the next generations and pushing the boundaries of knowledge, but in the midst of a pandemic, universities were put more firmly under the microscope than ever before. As we emerge into a new reality, James Coe considers the enormous challenge of reimagining an entire cornerstone of society as a more civic and personal institution.

The New University posits a blueprint of action through universities intersecting with work, offering opportunity, and operating within the physical space they find themselves. Diving into the issues he aims to tackle in his own work as a senior policy advisor, Coe believes we can utilise universities for community betterment through realigning research to communal benefit, adopting outreach into the hardest to reach communities, using positional power to purchase better, and using culture to draw people together in a fractured society.

The world has changed and universities must change too. The New University is the start.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays

Paperback

Published September 23, 2021

Reviews

[Nathan Shuherk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting arguments and well reasoned! Really interesting insight into the UK university system from the outside, and solutions that extend beyond the education crises being centered around universities seems compelling, but can’t help but think would not be 1) practical, 2) equitable.

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focusing particularly on the importance of community and localised responses, The New University considers the position of universities in the UK today and where things might go next. Using the emergence from the pandemic response as a starting point, James Coe uses the lenses of work, opportunity, place, and relevance to think about access to universities, their position within communities and the country, and how research can be funded, in order to put forward a proposal for the 'new university', or an updated way of working.

I read this as someone who works in a non-academic job in a university, so I found a fair bit of it quite similar to the sorts of things you would typically hear from people within a university, but there are some interesting points to be found within it. The question of how a university fits into the place it is in, and its perceived relevance to various communities, is a crucial one and the chapter on that provides a starting point for thinking about if universities really do bring local benefits and if people see that they do. The section around needing flexibility in admissions, especially post-pandemic when they did start to happen in some cases for admissions and might be quickly rolled back, was another interesting chance to rethink something that has otherwise been seen often as quite straightforward, in terms of getting grades, even with some consideration of school and local area context.

As a quick take on where universities might go next and deal with various crises, The New University is a chance for people to think about higher education in a slightly different way. For a lot of people already thinking about the current state of universities or their many flaws, the book won't necessarily offer much new, but it could be eye-opening to people who've not really thought about universities in terms of community and place before.

[Snorki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An attempt to look at what universities do today and how they can and should change to be more than just educational and research establishments - carving out a new role in their communities. Some quite interesting ideas but the book could have done with a more thorough edit as there were quite a few typos and grammar errors - where sentences just seemed to be missing words and not really making sense - which was all a bit distracting really.

[Nel Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very brief and well done introduction to some of the ideas that could be implemented to improve the way universities work for students, staff and communities. Had potential to explore some ideas in a greater depth without taking away from the point of it being an introduction

[Elliot Fenwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt misaligned with my own personal experience of university. But given that I went through a non traditional route this is to be expected.

Overall some interesting points but I struggled to change my existing views on the matter.

[Dannie Lynn Fountain · Rating 3 out of 5]

A UK-focused conversation around the place of university in both society and education. Deeply fascinating with global implications.