1. Workshops to discuss various concepts, ideologies, and schools of thought that help to grasp the current state of the university. These workshops would allow for a sharing of ideas that could contribute to restore the essence of the university as a place to seek truth without a “nostalgia” for the past but with new vision and hope for the future.
- The birth of the university in medieval Christian Europe: from the studium generale to the medieval university.
- The humanistic understanding of the university in the Reinassance.
- The beginnings of modern thought: Illustrationism and the response of intellectuals.
- English empiricism and its effects on the understanding of human knowledge.
- Romanticism and idealism. The young Goethe and the end of practical reason.
- The positivism of Comte: moving towards a purely empirical and scientific understanding of the world and of man.
- The relativity of Relativism: Einstein, Popper and the scientific attitude.
- Freud and Marx: the dissemination of the most influential materialistic ideologies of the Western world.
2. Testimonies. Looking at the lives of individuals who brought the “university spirit” to life and whose passion for truth had a profound influence on those around them.
3. The literary cycle: Culture and university in literature.
4. Movie Forum: the university in the movies.
5. Brief Courses: Practical skills and tips to transmit ideas and knowledge through public speaking and conversation, writing and other audiovisual media.
6. Bibliography: List of recommended readings.
7. Read and discuss texts to reflect on the university environment around us. The following dynamic could be useful: Observe – Ponder – React:
- Observe: Analysis of the university setting. What is the atmosphere of my university? Create a questionnaire as a guide to facilitate one’s observation of the atmosphere in the classroom, on campus, in study areas, in the dorms, etc.
- Ponder: Highlight the institution’s strong points as well as its weak aspects.
- React: Don’t settle; propose and initiate some solutions.
It is essential to present these activities in a creative, innovative and attractive way. Given the relativistic environment we live in, this year’s theme may provoke a tendency of lapsing into nostalgia and lamenting the relativism we come across. Therefore, care should be taken to safeguard its essence and enrich it with new ideas, transmitting them with positive outlook, a sense of novelty and hope. We should make good use of all the means at our disposal (art, literature, advertisement and other technological media) to present and promote this year’s theme.
- The birth of the university in medieval Christian Europe: from the studium generale to the medieval university.
- The humanistic understanding of the university in the Reinassance.
- The beginnings of modern thought: Illustrationism and the response of intellectuals.
- English empiricism and its effects on the understanding of human knowledge.
- Romanticism and idealism. The young Goethe and the end of practical reason.
- The positivism of Comte: moving towards a purely empirical and scientific understanding of the world and of man.
- The relativity of Relativism: Einstein, Popper and the scientific attitude.
- Freud and Marx: the dissemination of the most influential materialistic ideologies of the Western world.
2. Testimonies. Looking at the lives of individuals who brought the “university spirit” to life and whose passion for truth had a profound influence on those around them.
3. The literary cycle: Culture and university in literature.
4. Movie Forum: the university in the movies.
5. Brief Courses: Practical skills and tips to transmit ideas and knowledge through public speaking and conversation, writing and other audiovisual media.
6. Bibliography: List of recommended readings.
7. Read and discuss texts to reflect on the university environment around us. The following dynamic could be useful: Observe – Ponder – React:
- Observe: Analysis of the university setting. What is the atmosphere of my university? Create a questionnaire as a guide to facilitate one’s observation of the atmosphere in the classroom, on campus, in study areas, in the dorms, etc.
- Ponder: Highlight the institution’s strong points as well as its weak aspects.
- React: Don’t settle; propose and initiate some solutions.
It is essential to present these activities in a creative, innovative and attractive way. Given the relativistic environment we live in, this year’s theme may provoke a tendency of lapsing into nostalgia and lamenting the relativism we come across. Therefore, care should be taken to safeguard its essence and enrich it with new ideas, transmitting them with positive outlook, a sense of novelty and hope. We should make good use of all the means at our disposal (art, literature, advertisement and other technological media) to present and promote this year’s theme.
