When the newly appointed professor of medicine at the University of Rinteln, Johann Peter Lotichius (1598-1669), delivered an oration entitled "Oratio super fatalibus hoc tempore academiarum in Germania periculis" ("Oration on the pernicious dangers to the universities of contemporary Germany") at said university in February…

While research on universities is well elaborated within the field of higher education, less effort has been made to study other institutions of tertiary education. Complementary to the need of hybrid (specific and general) human capital for German Mittelstand firms, the system of tertiary dual education in Germany has succeeded in hitting two…

To answer the question as to the relation of the idea of "Bildung" and the historical and genealogical critique of contemporary culture, this article takes a detour through nineteenth-century German thought to recall the primary ideas, institutions, and processes such as the university, knowledge/scholarship ("Wissenschaft"),…

It is often assumed within much of the academic literature and by many of those working in higher education that universities across Europe are homogenising, converging around an Anglo-American model as a result of neo-liberal pressures and the aim of creating a single European Higher Education Area. However, drawing on an analysis of 92 policy…

The current criticism of higher education is that the education offered does not match the needs of practice. In terms of competitiveness, Germany is about the forefront in Europe, and logically the question of whether higher education is the source from which leads to this result. The objective of this paper is to compare the corresponding study…

The university system in Germany is currently undergoing profound changes. In order to strengthen their competitive position, private universities of applied sciences are increasingly offering integrated study programs which combine profound academic education with practical on-the-job training in a company. Private businesses highly appreciate…

Policy texts present problems, propose solutions to those problems and persuade multiple audiences of the legitimacy of the proposed problems and solutions. The rhetorical analysis of two decades of higher education and science and technology discourse in Finland, Germany, UK, Portugal and USA highlights the discursive elements that contribute to…

This contribution follows the descriptive review of Weigel, Mulder and Collins regarding the use of the competence concept in the development of vocational education and training in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The purpose of this contribution is to review the critical analyses brought forward by various authors in this field.…

Global university rankings have arrived, and though still in a process of rapid evolution, they are likely to substantially influence the long-term development of higher education across the world. The inclusions, definitions, methods, implications and effects are of great importance. This paper analyses and critiques the two principal rankings…

The importance of paying attention to the technology agenda in the educational policies of the United States was demonstrated by Cynthia Selfe (1999) in her analysis of the 1996 initiative "Getting America's Students Ready." Selfe showed how the technology literacy project enjoyed considerable public support induced by popular utopian…

Pointing out that the growing body of literature on the Holocaust has been accompanied by concern about how knowledge of the Holocaust may be conveyed, this paper argues that elucidating links between terminology and policy invites reconsideration of what Holocaust studies should accomplish. Close textual analysis of historical artifacts is used…

Investigates the representation of German women in the German media during the allied occupation. Initially vilified as fraternizers, they soon became portrayed as the stoic rebuilders of nation and family as the country moved toward reconstruction. Considers the complex, symbiotic relationships among social memory, popular culture, and historical…

A film presented as factual may permit critical responses that question its purported factual objectivity and political neutrality. In class, Hans-Georg Gadamer's concept of effective-historical consciousness can be used to evaluate the allegedly propagandistic messages in Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will." Analysis of this 1934…

From time to time, and particularly within the last few decades, a large number of educators and intelligent critics of education from other countries have visited and studied American schools, usually for the purpose of gaining such information and ideas as would be helpful to them in the improvement of the schools of their country. Many of…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2009 proceedings, see ED504973.]