10 Fascinating Things We Learned About Universities

October 4, 2019

This year marks UCLA’s centennial anniversary, and the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture is celebrating with a series of conversations called 10 Questions: Centennial Edition. Every Tuesday evening for ten weeks, experts from diverse disciplines will explore answers to big questions like “What Is Justice?”, “What Is Creativity?” and “What Is Love?” The discussions, held at Kaufman Hall on UCLA’s campus, are open to community members, free with RSVP. Can’t attend? KCET shares weekly highlights.

Victoria Marks leads students in an activity during the masterclass in advance of the 10 Questions: What is A University lecture

"What is a university? October 1, Emily Carter, sustainable energy expert and UCLA’s executive vice chancellor, and Peter Sellars, stage and festival director, discussed the role of universities in society. They said a whole lot of smart things, so we took a few notes, you should too. Here are ten fascinating things we learned from the night’s discussion.

1. The word “university” has the word universe in it. It’s about thinking holistically, looking at the big picture, and considering multiple perspectives.

2. The media loves soundbites, but universities don’t. Instead of trying to simplify things, a university expresses complex truths in clear, accessible language and images, making them easier for the public to grasp. Peter Sellars said, “As human beings, we're complex beings, and the things we make are complex and need to be understood in complex ways instead of reduced to a soundbite.”

3.  A university must be a force for good. (It’s like a super hero…. that you pay tuition to.) A university has a responsibility to harness its talent to solve social and technological problems and make the world a better place. As an example, Emily Carter mentioned climate change, and how we can’t just stop using fossil fuels. To solve that kind of problem, she said, “It takes ingenuity. It takes new invention. It takes training the next generation and the next generation after that. And that's what universities do."— Lisa Beebe, Oct. 4, 2019

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the KCET website.

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