[P2P-F] updating the status of University Open

Fri Jul 29 12:00:31 CEST 2011

my thinking on empyre, if you can't swin (in that art context), just jump in
the water <g>

On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 3:09 PM, Saul Albert <saul at thepeoplespeak.org.uk>wrote:

> 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.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> P2P Foundation - Mailing list
>>> http://www.p2pfoundation.net
>>> https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
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>>
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>>
>>
>

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