HUMANE Seminar in Rome - Academic Cultural Heritage: the Crown Jewels of Academia View this email in your browser
HUMANE Seminar
Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome
Friday 14 to Saturday 15 November, 2014 Academic Cultural Heritage:
the Crown Jewels of Academia
Details of the Presentations
Collections, buildings, books: historical instruments: all universities feel obliged to take care of their heritage . We are proud of these pearls in our crown and we distinguish ourselves with iconic buildings, paintings, objects and books.
At the same time these are a burden for the university finances, for maintenance because of special regulations and sometimes for safeguarding precious properties.
Also new questions arise. How can buildings with a different origin than an academic one (an old industrial unit, for example) be reused in Academia? How do precious books and manuscripts in our libraries find their way to a wide audience in times where IT plays the leading role? How can old instruments and technical artefacts be shown in a modern way by universities, as part of their civic responsibility? Does merging of collections help us to use them in a more appealing way, creating an experience that brings science closer to the general public? And last but not least: what is the European dimension of our common academic cultural heritage, and how can Europe profit from it?
Seven presentations and discussions afterwards will guide us through the rich world of Academic Cultural Heritage, at a venue most fit for it: the Royal Netherlands Institute situated in the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome.
Speakers
Revising and Reintegrating into Academia of the Gustavianum Museum in Uppsala Marika Hedin, Historian and Director of the Museum Gustavianum, Uppsala University (SE) The Museum Gustavianum in Uppsala, which houses most of the heritage collections of the university, was founded as late as 1997. The university itself, however, dates back to 1477. Since its inauguration, the Museum’s role has been somewhat unclear. It is the same question that torments all university museums: How do we formulate a mission that sits comfortably within the realm of a university, which has teaching and research within its remit, but not cultural heritage as such?
Science centres: cultural heritage-in-the-making Gert-Jan Scheurwater, Secretary General, Delft University of Technology (NL) Universities are carriers of a major cultural and societal value in our societies: to act as breeding grounds for innovation. The core-mission of most world-class universities is to generate breakthroughs – in terms of novel ideas, understanding and solutions -, to train new generations of students and to enhance the creation and development of new businesses. This broad spectrum of academic activities is driven by the idea of innovation (and - more implicitly – the more antiquated idea of progress) - a raw fact which must be considered as “academic cultural heritage” in itself.
Through time most universities have demonstrated to be able both to conserve as well as to pass on this idea of constant renewal. Furthermore, universities - as cutting-edge and very successful “organizers” of creativity - have proven to be one of the most dynamic, resilient and adaptive organizational ecosystems we know; this in contrast with many, often relatively short lived businesses. Innovation is part of the DNA of universities.
In my contribution I will explore the idea of universities as rather vulnerable islands of creativity in our societies – places of “cultural-heritage- in-the-making”. I will argue that both science museums and science centres have important roles to illustrate the idea of innovation in various ways. Whereas science museums celebrate past scientific innovations and learn us something about the often complex historical context of discovery of new ideas, science centres try to educate us about today’s innovations and learn us to imagine possible futures. Furthermore, science museums and science centres also represent two different academic approaches: knowing why ‘versus’ knowing how. In conclusion I will try to show that both approaches (museums – centres) have strengths and weaknesses
Ghent University: the integration of scattered university collections into one university museum Jeroen Vanden Berghe, Chief Logistics Administrator, University of Ghent (BE) Ghent University houses a large and diverse academic heritage, associated with different faculties and geographically scattered amongst many university campuses. The university board recently took up the profound intention of the staff of these collections to work towards a multidisciplinary, dynamic integrated university museum. The mission of the unified museum, which will open during the bicentennial festivities of Ghent University in 2017-2018, compromises not only the safeguarding of the rich academic heritage, but also includes communication on past, present and future research and its interaction with society throughout the ages. Using our academic heritage, the museum will aim to convey the power of the scientific method and its practice of critical thinking.
The House of European History and the Academia Perikles Christodoulou, Curator, the House of European History, European Parliament (GR) The European Parliament is establishing a House of European History in Brussels which will give visitors the opportunity to learn about European history and to engage in critical reflection about its meaning for the present day. The House of European History aims to convey a trans-national overview of European history, taking into account its diverse nature and its many interpretations and perceptions. It seeks to contribute to the understanding of European history, including the wider global context, and to facilitate debate about Europe and the European integration process. This presentation presents the House of European History and examines its links with the Academia.
International academies in Rome: academic heritage and its future Harald Hendrix, Director, Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, full professor of Italian Studies at Utrecht University (NL) This presentation gives a brief introduction to the rich world of the foreign academies established in Rome as of the late 19th century and their present function. It assesses how these Institutes' original mission has evolved over the last decades, and explores what challenges and opportunities these academies face in the context of present-day policies concerning higher education and culture in general. While considering these institutions full of strong traditions as academic heritage, the paper intends to reflect particularly on the contribution such heritage has or can acquire in present-day academic life
The reuse of big industrial complexes for the city campus of the Roma Tre University Mario Panizza , Rector of Roma Tre University and full professor of Architecture and Urban Design (IT) The building development of the premises of Roma Tre University was constantly accompanied by the recovery plan of the ex-industrial complex along the Tiber. The evocative theme of this project is therefore in the very character of our property assets and in the spirit of a work in progress, always attentive to complying with the requirements of the context.
The projects aim to the full recovery of the historical memory and, at the same time, to the transformation of the territory through modern facilities; hence the metaphor of "Factories of Knowledge", useful to represent the transition to the formation of areas of dense cultural activities.
Repositioning University Collections as Scientific Infrastructures Cornelia Weber, Managing Director, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt University of Berlin, Deputy Director of the Department Scientific Collections and Science Communication (DE) In 2012, the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik at Humboldt University of Berlin started a project to coordinate scientific university collections in Germany. This initiative was recommended by the German Council of Science and Humanities and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The goal of the project is to further develop and integrate the collections as decentralised scientific infrastructures for research, teaching and education, with due regard for their diversity and specific local characteristics.
Furthermore, the Coordination Centre wants to create a stable network that allows coordinated projects and strategies on a federal level. In many ways, this project requires the exploration of new academic frontiers: comparable projects exist neither in Germany nor on an international level. In my talk, I will give a short overview on the situation and development of university collections in general and I will present the project’s goals, strategies and first results.
Downloadable version of the presentations document: here
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Information
Who Can Attend
The HUMANE Seminar in Rome is open to:
HUMANE Members
HUMANE Members can also attend with a colleague HUMANE Members can also nominate a colleague to attend on their behalf WSAN Members HUMANE Friends may attend the social programme Other Higher Education professionals may apply to attend here
Seminar Fee
The Seminar Fee is € 495. This includes lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday and the social programme on Saturday afternoon.
Accompanying people and HUMANE Friends are charged at € 160, this includes lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday and the social programme on Saturday afternoon.
Upon registration you will receive a confirmation letter and invoice. Please wait until you receive the invoice before arranging the payment.
Accommodation and Practical Information WIll be sent to participants upon registration.
Provisional Seminar Schedule
Friday 14 November:
Registration and lunch from 12:00 / Seminar sessions 14:00 to 18:00 // HUMANE Seminar Dinner 20:00 Saturday 15 November:
Seminar sessions 09:00 to 13:00 / lunch / social programme then dinner
Social Programme
A full social programme will be provided for participants.
Seminar Website
Information can be found here.
Register
Please register online at: Online Registration
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