Are universities standing up to the rising nationalism around the world?

By Brendan O'Malley – Managing Editor. University World News was the media partner for a conference on New Nationalism and Universities held at the University of California, Berkeley in the United States in November. In a Special Report on the conference, we cover a presentation by John Douglass in which he asks whether universities are challenging or reinforcing the existing political order as nationalism rises across the globe. In her presentation, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ shared her view that the ‘alt-right’ was testing US universities on free speech as part of a narrative to discredit them. A presentation on Brexit looked at the stakes for UK universities in the upcoming Brexit negotiations but also how they could respond to the drivers of the vote for Brexit. Marcelo Knobel and Renato HL Pedrosa write about the rising violence and threats associated with recent student protests in Brazil, a topic covered at the conference.
   In a second Special Report on digitalised credentials, Herman de Leeuw and Stig Arne Skjerven hail the technological advances that could be a game changer in educational qualification verification and moving towards digital student portability, while Saha Al-Nahi explains how new blockchain technology, which allows academic records to be secured and accessed from any location, could help refugees in particular.
   In Commentary, Emiliano Bosio shares the benefits of transformative global citizenship education, which assists young people in acquiring social, civic and global-intercultural aptitudes. Chau-Duong Quang says Vietnam’s private higher education institutions are increasingly likely to be in the hands of corporations not educators. And Teboho Moja discusses the role of science granting councils in Africa, which she argues sit at the intersection between governments, the higher education sector and society, and have a crucial role to play in the transformation of society.
   In World Blog this week, Patrick Blessinger, Jaimie Hoffman and Mandla Makhanya discuss the need for change and the tensions of change in ensuring a culture of inclusion in higher education.
   In Features, Geoff Maslen unpacks an OECD report on science and technology, which states that new digital technologies are enabling a future of ‘smart everything’ that will require changes in science and innovation policy. And Christabel Ligami considers the impact on female students of the lack of sexual harassment policies at Kenyan universities – a situation which is slowly being addressed.
   In a Special Report from the Inyathelo Ninth Leadership Retreat held in South Africa, Mark Paterson looks at how the practice of advancement – the practice of raising funds as part of efforts to effect institutional transformation – is improving governance and leadership. And Karen MacGregor reports on the analysis of Dr Bhekinkosi Moyo, CEO of the Southern Africa Trust, of the extraordinary growth in philanthropy in African universities. More...