Programme
15:00-15:05     Welcome and introduction by Head of School Dr Claus Holm

15:05-15:50     Inaugural lecture by Professor Søren S.E. Bengtsen

15:50-16:05     Discussant: Emeritus Professor Ronald Barnett, IOE, UCL

16:05-16:30     Open plenary discussion with the audience

16:30-17:30    Reception

The existential university: Excess, paradox, and the knowledge leap
What is it to be a university today? It is no longer clear, if indeed it ever was. After all, universities are faced with near-impossible and conflicting demands. There is no stability available in being a university. Against that background, this inaugural lecture examines the university from an existential lens and argues that the many cross-pressures universities face today may be understood as a constructive paradox enabling unforeseen and unpredictable knowledge leaps, imbuing higher education and its societal contexts with creativity and criticality. Further, it will be discussed how the university may be seen as a perpetual excess in societies, an overflowing that cannot ultimately be instrumentalized but may be societally harnessed through new forms of academic citizenship.