Join us for a seminar Moving from Education based on Rankings to Education based on Cooperatives and Social Solidarity with Dr. Michelle Stack. This seminar is part of the course DEVS 405: Community-Based Development: Strategies and Practices.
Topic Overview: Universities deemed by media-driven rankers to be the top in the world became wealthy through enslavement and imperialism (Wilder, 2013). They continue to acquire wealth through investments in companies known for profits over human and environmental rights (Amnesty International, 2023). This talk will present case studies of cooperative educational institutions and cooperative services at universities (e.g., housing). You will be invited to explore possible educational futures that encompass networked cooperatives. Could they provide viable alternatives to current notions of academic excellence? What would a cooperative educational system look and feel like for the communities supporting a university and its students, staff and faculty?
About the Speaker:
Michelle Stack, Ph.D., is the Academic Director of the Learning Exchange for the University of British Columbia and an associate professor in the Department of Educational Studies. Her central research interest concerns how people, knowledge and institutions are categorized and the influence of these categorizations on our collective ability to respond to growing inequity. Her current work focuses on cooperative colleges and universities as a way to provide learning opportunities for democratic decision-making while also increasing food, job, and housing security for students and staff.
She is the author of Global University Ranking and the Mediatization of Higher Education (Palgrave), editor of Global University Rankings and the Politics of Knowledge (Open Access Book, University of Toronto), and “Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: University Rankings or Co-operatives as a Strategy for Developing an Equitable and Resilient Post-Secondary Education Sector?” (International Review of Education) .
Dr. Stack is an inaugural Knowledge Exchange and Mobilization Scholar for UBC, and she received the Inaugural Public Humanities Hub award in recognition of her work as a public scholar and her commitment to assisting students and colleagues in expanding scholarly conversations through media engagement.