An Academic Conference as a Space for the Formation of Knowledge about Higher Education

Abstract

The article presents the results of an analysis of Polish scientific conferences devoted to problems of higher education. The analysis focuses on two related issues: the intensity of the scientific and conference debate and its detailed subject matter. From a theoretical point of view, scientific conferences have been included as an element of the dispositif of the university, a discursive system that combines strong regulatory processes with interpretive multiplicity and openness (Maeße & Hamann, 2016; Angermuller, 2010). The results of the study showed: 1) a limited share of scientific conferences in the debate on the reform of higher education, 2) their thematic consolidation, and 3) formations of pedagogization, economization, metaphorization and ethicalization of knowledge about the university as part of conference discourse.

Keywords

• higher education reform
• scientific conference
• discourse analysis
• dispositif
• formation of knowledge