Our friend and colleague, Eric Barstow, of Franklin Humanities Institute, has been kind enough to share this captivating video, which he produced on behalf of FHI and Duke. In it we are treated to a recent conversation between HASTAC’s very own Cathy N. Davidson and Ed Balleisen, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, entitled “How to Revolutionize the University.”‘
From Eric’s email sharing this great resource:
Hello All,
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of documenting former FHI director Cathy N. Davidson’s discussion with our Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies Ed Balleisen on her latest book, The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux. The frank discourse over the outmoded structure of our current academic institutions in the face of an ever-advancing technological landscape was provocative on many levels. It is my pleasure to share with you the full video from that conversation, which took place in Duke’s Penn Pavilion over on West campus. Thanks so much, and feel free to share!
Cathy N. Davidson: How to Revolutionize the University
In her latest book, “The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux,” educational innovator Cathy N. Davidson (Duke’s former Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies) argues that the American university is stuck in the past–and shows how we can revolutionize it to prepare students for our age of constant change. Our current system of higher education dates to the period from 1865 to 1925, when the nation’s new universities created grades and departments, majors and minors, graduate and professional schools in an attempt to prepare young people for a world transformed by the telegraph and the Model T.
This approach to education worked for most of the 20th century but is unsuited to the era of the gig economy. From the Ivy League to community colleges, Davidson introduces us to innovators who are remaking college for our own time, by emphasizing student-centered learning that values creativity, dexterity, innovation, and social change. In this talk, she shows how we can revolutionize our universities to help students be leaders of change, not simply subject to it.
She was joined in conversation with Edward Balleisen, Professor of History and Public Policy and the current Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University. Co-sponsored by Duke’s Bass Connections, the Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), the Dean of Humanities, the Forum for Scholars and Publics, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI), Duke Libraries, the Provost’s Office, and the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI).
Eric Barstow
Duke – FHI