Universities as Royal Courts

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Paul Frijters
Posted in History, Humour, Education, Society, Political theory

The journal 'Agenda', the policy journal of the College of Business and Economics at The Australian National University just released a piece of mine called 'Universities as Royal Courts'. One can download it free of charge (just click on the link). It continues my long-running attempt of trying to explain to the Australian online public that Vice Chancellors and other higher-level bureaucrats in our universities have much higher salaries than in other countries; that at some universities (like QUT) the standards for being called a professor seem rather low if one is an administrator; why some universities have an overpaid upper echelon in the first place; and how the situation could be improved. This new piece draws parallels between the way some universities are run and how the royal courts of Europe were organised, complete with pageantry and scheming barons. The article carries a misspelling of my name ( a deliberate finishing touch of the editor, I think) which underscores the tongue-in-cheek humour of the piece. Enjoy!

4 Comments

  1. Richard Tsukamasa Green
    July 31, 2013

    Universities are being transformed from their mediaeval guild/monastic structure to a courtly structure.

    Some day we'll see leadership that will drag them kicking a screaming into the 18th century.

  2. Paul Frijters
    July 31, 2013

    Hahahaha. And what would that look like? An Australian penal colony?

  3. Richard Tsukamasa Green
    August 1, 2013

    Best case scenario.

    But given my distaste for the ancien regimes traditionally in place, I'd even favour Mid Qing Dynasty, Koenigsburg or plantation South.

  4. SJ
    August 1, 2013

    I preferred the original version, the-intellectual-as-courtier.