The idea is that universities should not just teach students and conduct research, but should endeavour to educate everyone. As the Vice-Provost Michael Worton pointed out, public engagement isn't just writing in the Guardian or even the Telegraph (as he put it), it's enabling all sorts of people being able to benefit from academic expertise.
Public engagement is the new big thing. Mostly probably because grant giving bodies require it (just as assessments motivate medical students, so grant requirements motivate researchers).
It was great to see some of the work people have been doing. The archeologists are training members of the public to survey key sites along the River Thames. The UCL Department of Space and Climate Physics holds all sorts of rocket-building and story-telling events at their posh campus in Guildford, Surrey.
And it's not just the scientists - UCL Scandanavian Studies are involved in Bright Club - a mix of comedy, music, art, new writing, science and performance; and the museums at UCL regularly hold events such as The Big Draw in the holidays for children and photography competitions.
I need to think what I can do to get people involved in my psychological, medical educational research...
I am certainly biassed, but UCL has such a varied mix of disciplines, it really is great. Here's a picture of students preparing to stage Twelfth Night in the quad this evening.
This is just what a good university should do. I didn't realise. I wonder if there is a central point from which to obtain information....?
ReplyDeletePublic engagement seems like a much smarter concept than the latest financial paradiagm - fractional ownership
ReplyDeleteThere should be a central point, you're right. I'm having a meeting with one of the co-ordinators in a couple of weeks. I will suggest it!
ReplyDeleteThis is something I think about a lot. We have a lot of engagement with the local neighborhood and, especially, the schools. I think many of our endeavors miss the target--they may be what we have to offer or what we would like to do but aren't necessarily what those outside the University community value and desire. (Such as, I post all of our law and economics working papers on line for free but, really, no one is interested except for other academics.) Our interactions with the local schools and children's programs seem to be most valuable. And I think you're right, it should be the goal of all such institutions.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marjorie. I agree that any educational endeavour needs to be focussed on the learner's needs.
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