Past Program

The overarching theme of the 1999 symposia

was globalization and its effects on institutions. Due to the relevance of this

issue facing universities today, the Universities Project is continuing the

theme of globalization at its symposia in 2000. As in 1999, the symposia will

examine this phenomenon through the prism of the five Universities Projects

topics:

1. University management and finance
2. Academic structure and governance within the university
3. Meeting student needs
4. Technology in higher education
5. The role of the university in the emerging civil society

While considering the impact of

globalization on higher education, the February 2000 symposium paid particular

attention to the role of universities in Southeast Europe, particularly in the

former Yugoslavia. Specifically, symposium participants considered the issue of

the emergence of civil society in ethnically diverse regions recently (or currently)

in conflict and the role universities may play in resolving conflict and

encouraging the emergence of civil society. This emphasis emerges from the

Universities Project’s fifth core theme, that of the role of the university in

civil society.  A total of 40 senior

university administrators and higher education specialists representing 15

countries in Europe and North America took part in the symposium.

The newsletter “Europe and the Balkans”

reports on this symposium in its February 2000 issue, available on the web at

the following url: www.spfo.unibo.it/balkans/eurobalk.html