“The larger Irish universities are growing bigger and more global by the day. But should they be judged by non-performance-related indicators, such as size or degree of ‘internationalisation’ of staff and student cohorts? Surely there are more meaningful criteria? Like how these organisations make big decisions. Behind closed doors or out in the open? Only after lots of talk and critique and debate? Or by how they respect expertise …” (more)
[In a Strange Land, 28 February]
Like most leftist politics, this article just aims to redefine what we see as good to be what they see as good and then claim it’s more important. No, how you feel about the way a university is run isn’t relevant. Your “open” and “futuristic” Francophone universities aren’t as good as the other ones by any metric of what a university is actually for: teaching and research. They might be amazing at pushing social justice etc. but that’s not what they are for.