scholarly journals Rethinking ‘Current Crisis’ Arguments: Gouldner and the Legacy of Critical Sociology

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hollands ◽  
Liz Stanley
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Public Sociology ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Critical Sociology ◽  
University System ◽  
Professional Sociology ◽  
Contemporary Sociology ◽  
Key Dimensions ◽  
The University

Proclamations of ‘current crisis’ in sociology are long-standing and have recently resurfaced in Britian and North America. This article explores the response of Alvin Gouldner to an earlier 1970s perceived ‘current crisis’. It then discusses some of the key dimensions ascribed to the current ‘current crisis’ – fragmentation, the decline of the intellectual, the need for a higher profile for public and professional sociology - to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Gouldner's ideas for analysing the situation of contemporary sociology. It concludes that Gouldner's critical sociology provides a useful basis for understanding current debates about fragmentation and public sociology, but less so in explaining the decline of intellectuals. In addition, neither Gouldner nor contemporary thinking about sociology's present-day ‘current crisis’ give much attention to the vastly increased regulation and bureaucratisation of the university system accompanying the expended remit of regulatory government, something we think underlies the discipline's successive perceptions of crisis. The contemporary version of critical sociology, with which this article aligns itself, provides a more structural and less voluntaristic rethinking of ‘current crisis’ arguments.

scholarly journals Engaged, Practical Intellectualism: John Porter and ‘New Liberal’ Public Sociology

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 831-868
Author(s):  
Richard Helmes-Hayes
Keyword(s):  
American Sociological Association ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Public Sociology ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Sociology ◽  
Professional Sociology ◽  
The World ◽  
Organic Solidarity

The debate initiated by Michael Burawoy’s 2004 Presidential Address to the American Sociological Association, “For Public Sociology,” has been a ‘public good’ (2005a; see also 2004abc, 2005bcdefg, 2006, 2007abc, 2008). Burawoy provoked sociologists around the world into revisiting the fundamental question “What is the nature and purpose of the discipline?”, and the variety of responses they have crafted is remarkable. Whatever the views individual scholars might hold, the discipline as a whole is deeply, inherently, and unavoidably political. Many of his critics have commented on the fact that it incongruous for him to call for a rejuvenated, highly politicized public sociology and simultaneously claim that such an entity could realistically involve relationships of “synergy,” “reciprocal interdependence,” and “organic solidarity” with the other three types (or “faces”) of sociology, including professional sociology It is axiomatic – part of the conventional wisdom of the discipline – that professional sociologists cannot accept the politicization of the research process. In order to remain scientific, professional sociology must stand in an unalterably adversarial relationship with the value-laden radical/ critical sociology that constitutes the basis for Burawoy’s vision of a properly constituted public sociology.

scholarly journals Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Travels to Greece: Actors, Contexts and Politics of Reception and Interpretation

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-41
Author(s):  
M. Dafermos ◽  
A. Chronaki ◽  
M. Kontopodis
Keyword(s):  
Activity Theory ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
Original Works ◽  
History Of ◽  
Key Dimensions ◽  
Cultural Historical Activity ◽  
University Spaces ◽  
The University

This article explores how socio-cultural, cultural-historical and activity theory approaches to education and psychology have traveled to Greece over the last three decades. It explores the history of introducing these approaches in the Greek context while identifying key dimensions of the process, such as: diverse interpretation of original works, key actors in academic teaching and research and linkages with educational policy and activism beyond the university spaces. Greece with its specific history of military dictatorship, constitutional change, varied struggles for democracy within the university, European integration, and current crisis and neoliberal reforms is seen as a sample case; taking this case as a point of departure, the authors develop a meta-theoretical frame on how to discuss the various ways in which socio-cultural-historical approaches have traveled across socio-cultural, historical, institutional, political, regional, and also, increasingly globalized contexts of education.

Doctoral Training of Psychology Students in France

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Roland-Lévy
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Doctoral Training ◽  
University System ◽  
The Third ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
The University ◽  
Psychology Doctoral ◽  
Phd Programs ◽  
Phd Program

Abstract: The aim of doctoral programs in psychology is to help students become competent psychologists, capable of conducting research and of finding suitable employment. Starting with a brief description of the basic organization of the French university system, this paper presents an overview of how the psychology doctoral training is organized in France. Since October 2000, the requisites and the training of PhD students are the same in all French universities, but what now differs is the openness to other disciplines according to the size and location of the university. Three main groups of doctoral programs are distinguished in this paper. The first group refers to small universities in which the Doctoral Schools are constructed around multidisciplinary seminars that combine various themes, sometimes rather distant from psychology. The second group covers larger universities, with a PhD program that includes psychology as well as other social sciences. The third group contains a few major universities that have doctoral programs that are clearly centered on psychology (clinical, social, and/or cognitive psychology). These descriptions are followed by comments on how PhD programs are presently structured and organized. In the third section, I suggest some concrete ways of improving this doctoral training in order to give French psychologists a more European dimension.

Hindrance to the Integration of e-learning Adoption in Nigerian Universities

GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
Abasiama G. Akpan ◽  
Chris Eriye Tralagba
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
University Education ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
University System ◽  
Electronic Learning ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Nigerian University ◽  
The University

Electronic learning or online learning is a part of recent education which is dramatically used in universities all over the world. As well as the use and integration of e-learning is at the crucial stage in all developing countries. It is the most significant part of education that enhances and improves the educational system. This paper is to examine the hindrances that influence e-learning in Nigerian university system. In order to have an inclusive research, a case study research was performed in Evangel University, Akaeze, southeast of Nigeria. The paper demonstrates similar hindrances on country side. This research is a blend of questionnaires and interviews, the questionnaires was distributed to lecturers and an interview was conducted with management and information technology unit. Research had shown the use of e-learning in university education which has influenced effectively and efficiently the education system and that the University education in Nigeria is at the crucial stage of e-learning. Hence, some of the hindrances are avoiding unbeaten integration of e-learning. The aim of this research is to unravel the barriers that impede the integration of e-learning in universities in Nigeria. Nevertheless, e-learning has modified the teaching and learning approach but integration is faced with many challenges in Nigerian University.

The Indian University in a Comparative Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.R. Madhava Menon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
University System ◽  
Current State ◽  
The World ◽  
The University

The purpose of looking at Indian universities in a comparative perspective is obviously to locate it among higher education institutions across the world and to identify its strengths and weaknesses in the advancement of learning and research. In doing so, one can discern the directions for reform in order to put the university system in a competitive advantage for an emerging knowledge society. This chapter looks at the current state of universities in India and highlights the initiatives under way for change and proposes required policy changes.

Efficient assignment of financial resources within a university system. Study of the University of Malaga

2001 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Caballero ◽  
T Galache ◽  
T Gómez ◽  
J Molina ◽  
A Torrico
Keyword(s):  
Financial Resources ◽  
System Study ◽  
University System ◽  
The University

scholarly journals Effects of Socio-Academic Intervention on Student Performance in Vulnerable Groups

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7673
Author(s):  
Tarquino Sánchez-Almeida ◽  
David Naranjo ◽  
Raquel Gilar-Corbi ◽  
Jessica Reina
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Academic Intervention ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
University System ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Economic Support ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
The University

In Ecuador, affirmative action policies enable students from vulnerable groups to preferentially enter universities. However, these policies are limited to admission and do not include academic or socio-economic support mechanisms that, according to the literature, promote student insertion in the higher education system. In this study, the effects of socio-academic intervention on the academic performance of vulnerable students are presented. For this, 41 students were selected among 164 vulnerable students entering the Escuela Politécnica Nacional in the second term of 2019. The 41 students attended a socio-academic intervention course for one term, while the remaining 123 attended the Escuela Politécnica Nacional levelling course directly. Once both groups of students finished the levelling course, their performance in each of the course subjects was compared. The results showed that the academic performance of the students in the intervention was significantly higher in mathematics and geometry compared to the students who had no intervention. These results show that the socio-academic intervention promotes the real insertion of vulnerable students in the university system.

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