This year’s student speaker: EMPTY BUZZWORDS WON’T CONTRIBUTE TO A MEANINGFUL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, BUT REAL VALUES WILL
Students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but active participants in the educational process – and should be treated accordingly. However, a market-driven approach often means that education is viewed as a commodity to be sold to students, who are then resold – as graduates – to business and industry as the actual product. These were the words from this year's student speaker, Bálint Márk Sosovicska, who studies classical philology (MA) and is a member of the Arts Council and of the Academic Council of the Arts.
Honourable permanent secretary, rector, mayor, chair of the board, pro-rector, board members, deans, vice-deans, council presidents, council members, doctors, professors, associate professors, PhD students, students and other distinguished guests.
It must be possible “to work under the spiritual and material conditions necessary for the flourishing of scientific research and teaching”.
This is what the outgoing rector Andreas Blinkenberg said in 1940, just 16 days after the Germans had occupied Denmark.
It was a time marked by uncertainty, and the threat to the country and the university was quite palpable. This is precisely why many students and lecturers chose to risk their lives for a free Denmark and for free research. Among them was my colleague Franz Blatt, who got off with what was known as a 'professor's arrest', while others lost their lives in the resistance.
Neither the university nor the students stand in the same place where they did that time. However, today we still strive to ensure favourable conditions for our work at the university, and with the new semester underway, we are adding another chapter to our shared history.
A SHAME THAT BUSINESS CONCEPTS ARE GAINING TRACTION AT UNIVERSITY
In the Academic Council at Arts, we have already started the new chapter. At our meeting two weeks ago, we discussed ideas for concrete actions that can bring us closer to the university's objectives in the 2030 strategy. We talked about the new master's degree programs, the university's didactic profiling and business collaborations. Here, frustration was expressed over the fact that the discussion is often driven by terminology steeped in corporate concepts such as 'user groups', 'innovation', 'business initiatives', and 'competencies'.
I share this regret and, unfortunately, have to state that it is the reality of everyday life at university. Aarhus University has been in a state of continual change since its establishment – both intellectually and organisationally – but the shift towards a corporate model truly accelerated when the traditional professor-led governance was replaced by a more professionalised management structure, featuring directors and a proliferation of middle managers. However, in the same period, from the 1960s to the 1970s, another major change also took place: The students were structurally recognised as actors who had shares in the university's work. Or at least that's what was promised.
As students, we are no longer passive recipients of knowledge, like school pupils are, but active participants in the educational process. And with this recognition, we should also be treated accordingly.
This promise from politicians and institutional leaders marked a milestone, which introduced a new dynamic between students and the institution. As students, we are no longer passive recipients of knowledge, like school pupils are, but active participants in the educational process. And with this recognition, we should also be treated accordingly. Yet we see how this original vision is often overshadowed by a market-driven approach in which education is seen as a commodity to be sold to students, who are then resold – as graduates – to business and industry as the actual product. Yes, even the course evaluations have taken on the character of user surveys.
This raises the question of how — or rather whether — we can maintain academic autonomy and integrity while meeting the demands of society. This is something we as a university must deal with together – students, lecturers and management.
EMPTY BUZZWORDS
Therefore, it is also time for our rhetoric to reflect this reality. We should consider whether expressions like ‘student involvement in decision-making’ are outdated, and whether they should be replaced with more contemporary concepts that recognise students as a central part of Aarhus University – not merely as people who are occasionally involved through evaluations.
We also need to redefine what we mean by 'innovation' and 'competencies', so that these become not just empty buzzwords, but real values that contribute to a meaningful learning environment. We must strive for a university culture that values critical thinking, creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration as central elements of our work.
A culture in which students and lecturers have the right conditions to, side by side, strive towards the purpose that the university as an institution of knowledge has had from the beginning: Sŏlĭdum pətĭt in profundis (Aarhus University's motto, which translated from Latin means 'seeking in the depths the solid ground', ed.).
Only by holding on to our roots, which remain grounded despite the changing trends of the times, can we ensure that Aarhus University remains an institution where both knowledge and people can flourish. Especially in these times, when “the spiritual and material will” are being squeezed by cutbacks, degree programme resizing and a multitude of reforms, we have a common obligation to care for the Tree of Science — the ceramic tree by Olaf Stæhr-Nielsen, which was the first thing you saw — just above the entrance — when entering the new main building.
We must cherish the growing shoots and, if necessary, cut off withered branches. However, we must remember that without the roots well planted in the solid ground, the tree will not be able to withstand the storms of time.
We must cherish the growing shoots and, if necessary, cut off withered branches. However, we must remember that without the roots well planted in the solid ground, the tree will not be able to withstand the storms of time.
The non-earmarked research, the university as a haven for free and critical thinking, was what was dreamed of when the university was founded, and for which many gave their lives during the occupation. The university must reflect its nature as a democratic foundation stone with equal influence for both staff and students, and it must act as a corrective to market forces and half-truths. We must continue to fight for this – together.
Bálint Márk Sosovics is a member of the Arts Council and Academic Council at Arts.
This text is machine translated and post-edited by Cecillia Jensen