HERC Seminar Series

Higher education in challenging times: questioning the unquestioned is a seminar series aiming to stimulate debate between researchers and those engaged in policy and practice in higher education. At a critical time in Ireland and internationally, it is clear that informed debate is vital to guide the decisions which will shape our higher education systems for decades to come. This series is co-sponsored by the Higher Education Research Centre at DCU, the Dublin Region Higher Education Association and the Higher Education Authority. The series was launched on Wednesday 8 December with a seminar entitled 'Globalisation and higher education: policy and practice in a BRIC country' by the renowned educator and scientist, Professor Nelson Maculan.

Forthcoming Seminars

Future events in coming months include seminars by: Professor Sir Peter Scott, Institute of Education, London, and Professor Sir David Watson, Principal of Green College Templeton, Oxford. For regular updates on plans for the seminar series and other HERC activities, please visit the HERC Blog.

Previous Seminars

8 December 2011, Seminar Series Launch

The series was launched on Wednesday 8 December with a seminar entitled 'Globalisation and higher education: policy and practice in a BRIC country' by the renowned educator and scientist, Professor Nelson Maculan. A welcome address was given by Professor Brian MacCraith, President of Dublin City University. Introductions were made by Professor Maria Slowey, DCU who acknowledged the support of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance (DRHEA). We were also honoured to have the Brazilian Ambassador Pedro Fernando Brêtas Bastosin in attendance.

The seminar was followed by an open discussion with participants and expert panellists including Dr. Bahram Bekhradnia, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, Oxford, Dr. Carmel Mulcahy, School of Education Studies, Dublin City University, Tom Boland, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, and Professor John Field, Professor of Lifelong Learning at The Stirling Institute of Education. To read more about this event please visit the HERC Blog

21 February 2011, Professor Simon Marginson

The second event in the seminar series took place on Monday 21st of February, 2011. The main speaker for this event was Simon Marginson, Professor of Higher Education at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Professor Marginson provides advice for the OECD and the governments of Ireland, Australia and several countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and writes principally about globalization, higher education and education policy. He presented a lecture entitled 'Does higher education create public good(s) and should it be publicly funded?'. This was followed by an open discussion chaired by Professor Maria Slowey, Director of Higher Education Research, DCU, with participants and expert panellists including Professor Patrick Clancy, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, UCD, Professor Ellen Hazelkorn, Director of Research and Enterprise, DIT and Professor Shinichi Yamamoto, Director, Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Japan. To read more about this event please visit the HERC Blog

4 March 2011, Professor Hans Schuetze

On 4 March, Hans G. Schuetze, Emeritus Professor, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada delivered a talk entitled Regional Engagement and Service Mission of Universities: North American Perspectives. This was the third of a lecture series co-sponsored by the Higher Education Research Centre (HERC) DCU, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance (DRHEA). The event was chaired by Professor Maria Slowey, Director of Higher Education Research and Development, DCU, with participants and discussants Professor Ronnie Munck, Head of Civic and Global Engagement, DCU, and Dr. Elaine Ward, Higher Education Policy Research Unit, DIT. To read more about this event please visit the HERC Blog

7 March 2011, Dr Di McCarthy

On Monday 7 March, Dr Di McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of New Zealand delivered a lecture at the Royal Irish Academy entitled R&D - The New Zealand Way: Funding and Prioritisation in Higher Education. This event was jointly hosted by the Royal Irish Academy and the Higher Education Research Centre, Dublin City University. It was chaired by Professor Nicolas Canny, President of the Royal Irish Academy, and introduced by Professor Maria Slowey, Director of Higher Education Research and Development at DCU. To read more about this event please visit the HERC Blog

Related Events

8th International Workshop on Higher Education, October 5 - 7, 2011, Humboldt University, Berlin (Germany)
This workshop is the eight International Workshop on University Reform bringing together researchers and policy analysts and makers. In 2007 DCU hosted the 4th International Workshop on Higher Education Reforms