World Universities Forum 2014

As in previous years, the 2014 World Universities Forum (WUF) will feature sessions on a breadth of topics relevant to the university and its possibilities.

Higher education has long had a special relationship with democracy, both as a mechanism for the promotion of democratic society and as a means for democratic equity of opportunity. Recent developments have only explicated the importance of this relationship. For example, university students and faculty continue to play essential roles in today’s democracy movements. At the same time, access to universities and other higher education institutions is diminishing in countries around the world. In some locations, rising fees are reducing access while elsewhere education systems are physically unable to accommodate burgeoning demand.

Given its timely importance, the WUF hopes to initiate a conversation on democracy and higher education, engaging the promise and perils it faces in an era of dramatic change.