2020 2nd Kritike Conference - UST Philosophy Department

The UST Department of Philosophy

Faculty of Arts and Letters

The UST Graduate School

and the Concilium Philosophiae

Invite you to

THE 2ND KRITIKE CONFERENCE 2021

"FROM WISDOM'S SPECIAL WORKSHOP TO FACTORIES OF KNOWLEDGE: THE PLACE OF UNIVERSITY IN CULTURE AND SOCIETY"

6-27 February 2021 via Zoom

Conference Overview

Since its inception, the autonomy of the university was generally determined by its complex relationship with higher powers such as the church or the state. This complexity was due in no small part to the varying rapport between ecclesiastical and secular powers. The liberation of the university from the control of the former, however, ushered in an era of supervision by the latter. Under the state, universities were not exempted from cameralistic administration which eventually determined the conditions under which these institutions operated. The secularization of the university thus paved the way for a utilitarian view of education perpetuated by ever-increasing contemporary pressures from the global market economy.

One of the most notable attempts in history to address this perceived dilemma is the revaluation of the university’s relation with the church and the state, in which the university advanced the indispensability of academic freedom and the importance of the safeguarding of its autonomy. Thus, the proposals and the emergence of modern research universities in nineteenth-century Germany provided a model to which the west, and later on, the rest of the world would follow. But as the global predicament persisted, references to the nineteenth century ideal have often been dismissed as nostalgic and conservative, as opposed to the more progressive attempts at rethinking a new university ethos. Indeed, to rethink the university is to understand what it once was. Whether or not we accept the conception of the “multiversity” as a description or a prescription, an understanding of the university’s purpose, allegiances, and its overall place in broader culture remains a duty to be accomplished ever anew.

In line with this, the UST Department of Philosophy and Kritike: An Online Journal of Philosophy will be hosting the 2nd Kritike Conference, “From Wisdom’s Special Workshop to Factories of Knowledge: The Place of University in Culture and Society.”  This month-one event will feature talks from invited keynote speakers who deal with the contemporary crises of higher education every Saturday of the month of February 2021.  We thus invite not only those who are interested in the philosophy of higher education, but every student, faculty, administrator, and staff who wish to engage with us regarding various matters arising from global and local trends on teaching, learning, and research.

Featured Speakers:

Dr. Bob Brecher

University of Brighton

Lecture: "The Neoliberal Agenda for our Universities"

Dr. Paolo A. Bolaños

University of Santo Tomas

Lecture: "Speed and its Impact on Learning: Preliminary Notes on a Dromology of Education"

13 February 2021 (4pm Philippine time)

Sensei Adorador

Carlos Hidalgo Memorial State College

Lecture: "The Funnel System of Education: Why the University Loses Its Most Promising"

20 February 2021 (6pm Philippine time)

Dr. Gerardo Lanuza

University of the Philippines-Diliman

Lecture: "Neo-fascism as the Apparatus of Neoliberal Attack on Education: Towards a Pedagogy of Resistance"

27 February 2021 (6pm Philippine time)

The lectures are open to the public.  Pre-registration is required.  Zoom links will be sent to your registered email.