In this seminar Prof. Jan Masschelein will sketch two developments that contribute to a devastation or weakening of the pedagogical life of higher education institutions. Threatening to make their campuses increasingly irrelevant, thereby affecting their sense-ability and response-ability: the first seminar will focus on the establishment and expansion of a hyper-modern learning factory, and the creation of the figure of the ‘independent learner’. Through this analysis Prof. Masschelein will elaborate on and intensify the idea that the campus and the particular forms of pedagogical life that it stages matter to get the learner out of the ‘center’ by reinforcing how we are able to ‘respond’ (sense, think, imagine) with others, thanks to others and at the risk of others, as Isabelle Stengers formulates it.  The campus and the pedagogical forms related to it embody forces that can make a particular kind of public and collective study happen, they refer to made and situated setups that enable us to taste the world in a particular way, which is worth defending and regenerating.

This seminar is part of the FAST45 SEMINAR SERIES: PEDAGOGICAL LIFE AND THE DIGITAL UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS. The series explores particular forms and aspects of pedagogical life that may inform or instruct our imagination on the concept of the learning platform. As a contemporary pedagogical form that connects physical and virtual learning communities, the learning platform is increasingly being aligned with corporate training and workplace learning models. In this seminar series we want to expand on these tensions, towards an open discussion on other possibilities within technological forms of education.

The programme will be run through the FAST45 Learning Platform over 7 x 1.5 hr sessions. Each session will be led by a key thinker on education and technology. As suggested by Roland Barthes, the seminar is an open-ended, relational space that connects ‘institution, transference, and text’. In the spirit of Barthes seminar, we ask that participants attend each session of the series in order to commit to this relational dynamic and partake in an ongoing dialogue.

If you are unable to access today’s seminar using the link above you can also access it here.