ON CAMPUS
campusreview.com.au
Engagement is still a buzzword
in higher education; how
universities approach it will
depend on how they want to fit
in with the people and institutions
within and around them.
By Jim Nyland
The community
curriculum
U
niversities are always thought of as somehow being
learning communities. Indeed, if not this, then what are
they? Yet, in practice, the precise nature of that community
varies greatly.
The relationship a university has with its own community may
involve a strong connection to the local or regional town or city
and stand for a set of localised identities. On the other hand,
a university may aspire to being a non-physical community,
without borders of a conventional kind. For example, James
Cook University’s newest campus in Singapore helps define its
community in terms of those choosing to live in tropical areas
of the world. Also, Australian Catholic University has opened its
newest campus in Rome, reflecting ACU’s position as one of the
leading Catholic universities globally.
Such distinctive missions enable universities to define their
learning communities while being a part of them. But in today’s
world, the very idea of community is evolving. This presents
universities with a complex challenge.
WHAT MAKES A COMMUNITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
The idea of community is under severe scrutiny according to
some, and when we examine the idea, we can find ourselves
embroiled in questions of identity, nationalism, ethnicity and
belonging that go to the heart of what we think we are and what
we would like to become. These are existential questions in a
world where migration, globalisation, dispossession, war, terrorism,
poverty and extensive cultural and social conflict characterise
our way of life. We must confront