[P2P-F] updating the status of University Open

[Saul Albert]

Hi Michel,

You're welcome to share what I've sent to you in any context.

It was very generous of you to share your story on empyre. I have to admit,
I found the experience of writing in that context quite disconcerting, and I
think I was quite defensive in the way I contributed. Your generosity and
openness was really exemplary.

Thanks again for your work,

Saul.
--
The People Speak | 17-25 Cremer St. London E2 8HD | http://theps.net
+44 (0)2076133001 | +44(0) 7941255210 | saul at thepeoplespeak.org.uk


On 27 July 2011 16:15, Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net> wrote:

> Thank you so much for sharing these really fascinating developments!
>
> Would you mind if I share this on the p2p blog?
>
> If you're on the empyre list this week, you will read my 'p2p' confession
> ...
>
> Michel
>
> On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 9:14 PM, Saul Albert <saul at thepeoplespeak.org.uk>wrote:
>
>> Hi Michel,
>>
>> Nice to hear from you again, and thanks for asking.
>>
>> what is the status of the University Open and how has it evolved over the
>>> years,
>>>
>>
>> Well, I guess it's dormant at the moment. A few years ago, after regular
>> use of the mailing list and wiki had stopped (which was the index of
>> activity at the Uo), I sent out an email asking if it was ok with people if
>> I closed it down (around the same time that the Copenhagen Free University
>> closed it's 'doors').
>>
>> There was an outcry - nobody wanted it offline, and there was a brief
>> flurry of activity again, then it died down. I guess many of the people who
>> invested their knowledge and time in the Uo wanted it maintained and for the
>> possibility of its future use to remain open. That's where it is... still
>> waiting for some activity.
>>
>> That, however, is probably a technical description of its infrastructure.
>> The people who made it an interesting place to be for a few years
>> (2002-2006) are still around, and many have gone on to do interestingly
>> related things.
>>
>> I went off to start the people speak (http://thepeoplespeak.org.uk) -
>> which was about convening collectives of people spontaneously - which was my
>> favourite part of the Uo process. Some other people went on to start the
>> School of Everything (www.schoolofeverything.com) - which started as a
>> social enterprise to stimulate mass peer-learning, but got derailed by
>> investors into becoming a kind of ebay for learning (which didn't work so
>> well). Now they're back to doing more interesting stuff. Others have gone on
>> to get involved in the World Congress of Data Miners and Travailleurs
>> Psychique: http://www.alytusbiennial.com/.
>>
>> However, this is just a partial view of some of the things some people
>> have gone on to. Many of the people who got involved in the Uo, I still
>> don't know face to face, or I wouldn't be able to put a name to a wiki
>> handle, so what they're doing now is a mystery to me.
>>
>> Personally, I found it to be one of the most empowering educational
>> experiences I've had, and now I'm back in formal education, I can see what a
>> tremendous freedom it was to share knowledge in a very self-directed and
>> multifarious way. I aspire to recapture that in the contexts I now move in
>> (academic conferences, formal research methods, ethics committees etc.)
>> which is a real challenge.
>>
>> But I like the fact that nobody wanted it shut down, perhaps it's nice to
>> know that it's there if we need it. Quite possibly some people are still
>> using the Uo context, networks and knowledge to socialise their research.
>>
>> I like the idea that the Uo might spring to life again at some point,
>> although I'm not sure what it would mean to start a self-institution for
>> socialised research these days. In many ways, that mission of the Uo seems
>> like the most obvious (even dominant) modus operandi of any contemporary
>> knowledge production process, and also, in some ways, an argument that is
>> used in justifying the social disinvestment in higher education evident in
>> the UK.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Saul.
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
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