Universities & the Public Interest

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Academic freedom, autonomy and engagement within an international community of scholars are principles that are vital to the mission and integrity of universities. So it is dispiriting that recent debates about the role of universities, fuelled by political currents in the United States, presume that university interests may be, or are being, captured and diverted by some constituencies.These debates identify their targets ideologically. The capture of any public institution by those who inhabit it is a matter needing vigilance, as is penetration by outside interests, but so too is the overreach of political interventions that may undermine the very stuff that sustains that institution's purpose. This book explores the purpose of universities and the relationship between those institutions and the public interest.

In the NationalInterestis a new series in the Monash University Publishing list that is focused on the challenges Australia confronts. The series informs, influences and inspires public discourse. Showcasing experts both from withinMonash and beyond, these short, thought-provoking and accessiblebooks will address the major issues of our times, from public policy to governance and government.

Author Bio

Professor Margaret Gardner AC became President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University on 1 September 2014. Prior to joining Monash, Professor Gardner was vice-chancellor and president of RMIT from April 2005 until August 2014. She has extensive academic experience, having held various leadership positions in Australian universities throughout her career, including at the University of Queensland and Griffith University. She attained a First-Class Honours degree in Economics and a PhD from the University of Sydney. In 1988, she was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow, spending time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2018, she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Professor Gardner is the Chair of the Group of Eight Universities and is also a Director of Infrastructure Victoria and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). Professor Gardner has previously been chair of Museum Victoria and chaired the Strategic Advisory Committee and the Expert Panel of the Office of Learning and Teaching (Federal Government Department of Education and Training).