The University of Hope

Abstract

Abstract Is the university as we know it dead? Monika Kostera thinks not, but across the globe universities are under attack, be it by external forces or from within. Will they survive? Our civilization requires that they must: planetary survival and sustainability depend on them. This book provides vital resources to give us all—professional academics, students, and university administrators—hope that universities will emerge renewed out of the current crisis. It inspires all of us to practice, collectively and consciously, academic virtues: kindness, diligence, patience, temperance, chaste desire, humility, and collegiality. These virtues can help reduce some of the detrimental aspects of a prevalent culture of vice, conflict, and violence that we witness, experience, and are complicit in, both within our universities and beyond. As the book shows, the practice of academic virtues can enable us to cultivate awareness of the common good that academia serves: the preservation and development of humanity’s potential of knowledge. Drawing on a rich variety of ideas, theories, empirical cases, real and fictitious stories, as well as examples and images from art and literature, Monika Kostera demonstrates the splendid complexity of academic ecosystems. It is through looking for hope for the university that we find hope for society and the planet. The two are inextricably linked: you cannot have one without the other! In suggesting tangible steps for restoring a sense of meaning to academic work and the collegial community worldwide, The University of Hope shows us a path out of the darkness.