We are very pleased that eight representatives from the University of Glasgow were able to visit the University of Duhok in May 2023 under the aegis of Erasmus+ Institutional Mobility Programme. The delegation was led by Michael Osborne, Professor of Adult and Lifelong Learning, Director of CR&DALL (School of Education) and Director of PASCAL Europe, and also included Qammar Abbasi, Professor of Electronic & Nanoscale Engineering, Brian Barrett, Reader in Environmental Remote Sensing (School of Geographical & Earth Sciences), John Davies, Research Fellow and Associate Director of Arts Lab (College of Arts), Muhammad Imran, Professor of Communication Systems/Dean Transnational Engineering Education, Mary Ryan, International Development Research Manager (Research & Innovation Services),  Yulia Nesterova, Lecturer in International and Comparative Education (School of Education) and Kirstie Wild, Head of Research and Operations Strategy (College of Arts).

Urban America would be a different – and lesser – place without universities.  They provide vocational instruction and prepare young people for the workforce.  But more importantly, the liberal tradition in higher education increases our capacity to understand and reshape the world far beyond the university.  Yet liberal education is under siege throughout a range of states in the United States.

Bob Gleeson started this thread of discussion last week and plans to continue building his line of thought soon.  While his discussion takes a broad, strategic look at this question, my own answer is more pragmatic: “Yes, they should.”  But the costs and benefits of each should be carefully, openly and honestly evaluated on a case by case basis.

The first Apprendi Festival, a festival on lifelong learning in the province of Verona, was held on June 10, 2023. The event, conceived by Virginia Nocca, a 23-year-old masterstudent in Education from Padua University, together with her father Gino, was held in the village of Fumane (in the Verona province), surrounded by the Valpolicella hills famous for the production of Amarone wine.