Dr. Jani Ursin
(University of Jyväskylä, Finnish Institute for Educational Research)
Academic Work and Identities in the 21st Century
The increasing flow of managerialist practices into higher education has transformed the academy as a workplace, with challenges to the perceptions of academics concerning their work. Faced with these continuous changes, academics need to rework and redefine what it means to be an academic and what key values and moral commitments are associated with being an academic in these complex, multilayered contexts. In the presentation I will focus on how academics make sense of the current transformations of higher education and what kinds of academic identities are thereby constructed. I will also discuss what kinds of expressions of agency and emotions are related to academic identity and end up arguing a need for better acknowledgement of the emotionally loaded nature of academic work.
Jani Ursin is senior researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He holds a title of Docent in higher education research. His research has focussed on quality assurance in higher education, mergers of Finnish universities, learning outcomes in higher education as well as academic work and identities. He is also active in the European Educational Research Association (EERA); he is the former Link-Convenor of EERA's Network 22: Research in Higher Education and currently is Networks' Representative on Council in the association. He is the former President of the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers in Finland (CHERIF). Ursin is national editor of Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research and editorial board member of several journals in the field of higher education.
Wednesday, 8 February 2017, 4.00–5.30 p.m. | Vogelpothsweg 78 (CDI building), room 114
Center for Higher Education (zhb)
Professorship of Higher Education
Search & People Search
Location & approach
The campus of TU Dortmund University is located close to interstate junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dortmund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is "Dortmund-Eichlinghofen" (closer to Campus Süd), and from B 1 / A 40 "Dortmund-Dorstfeld" (closer to Campus Nord). Signs for the university are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dortmund.
To get from Campus Nord to Campus Süd by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at Campus Nord and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.
TU Dortmund University has its own train station ("Dortmund Universität"). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dortmund main station ("Dortmund Hauptbahnhof") and Düsseldorf main station via the "Düsseldorf Airport Train Station" (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 15 or 30 minutes). The university is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.
You can also take the bus or subway train from Dortmund city to the university: From Dortmund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station "Stadtgarten", usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At "Stadtgarten" you switch trains and get on line U42 towards "Hombruch". Look out for the Station "An der Palmweide". From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dortmund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dortmund main station to the stop "Dortmund Kampstraße". From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop "Dortmund Wittener Straße". Switch to bus line 447 and get off at "Dortmund Universität S".
The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on Campus Nord. One ("Dortmund Universität S") is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the "Technologiepark" and (via Campus Süd) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at Campus Nord and offers a direct connection to Campus Süd every five minutes.
The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.
Interactive map
The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent "Technologiepark".
