ArtsKeele S/S 2018 Arts Keele Spring Summer 2018 v4 | Page 54

SPRING
SUMMER
2018
FREE
INAUGURAL LECTURE
PROFESSOR SHANE O’NEILL
UNIVERSITIES AS INSTRUMENTS
OF SOCIAL FREEDOM
Monday 14 May 2018 | 6.15pm
WESTMINSTER THEATRE, CHANCELLOR’S BUILDING
Synopsis: In this lecture, I address the question as to what the social purpose of
universities is today. I will present, first, an account of critical social theory that has
animated much of my academic work, one that underlines the ultimate significance
for modern democratic societies of the value of social freedom. I will then turn to the
university as an institution that plays a key role as an instrument of social freedom in
the reproduction of modern societies. The university, as a privileged site of individual
formation, has a special role in fostering freedom. Students prepare themselves, through
self-exploration, to give back to society in their personal relationships, in the exchange
of services through the world of work and in democratic practices. As well as supporting
their students to go on to make positive differences in all of the communities in which
they will be embedded, universities also engage in research and in fostering partnerships
these too should be focused on contributing to the realisation of effective social freedom
for all citizens. Universities should properly be evaluated, therefore, on the extent to
which they succeed in enhancing social freedom for all. By clarifying the purpose of the
university as a modern institution, which is to be effective as an instrument of social
freedom, we will be better placed to offer valuable critical perspectives on contemporary
controversies regarding higher education policy.
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BIO:
Shane O’Neill completed a BA in History and Politics
and an MA in Moral and Political Philosophy at University
College Dublin before moving to the University of
Glasgow for his doctoral studies. His primary research
interests focus on debates in contemporary moral
and political philosophy, specifically in clarifying
the demands of justice and outlining conditions
of democratic legitimacy both within the state and
beyond it. He has sought to develop a critical-theoretical
perspective on struggles for recognition of marginalised
groups. Shane held his first academic position in
Manchester University before moving back across
the Irish Sea to Queen’s University Belfast. He became
a Professor there in 2002 and he served on the
University Executive for six years. He has been
a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of
Pennsylvania and a Visiting Professor at Hong Kong
University, Macquarie University (Sydney),
and Queen’s University (Ontario).
WHAT’S
ON
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