BIGSSS Opening Ceremony Oct. 2008
BIGSSS Opening Ceremony, October 2008
BIGSSS officially opened its doors with a ceremony in the Bremen Town Hall on October 21, 2008.
Welcome Addresses were held by the Dean, Prof. Dr. Steffen Mau, and the presidents of the two universities; Prof. Dr. Wilfried Müller of Universität Bremen and Prof. Dr. Joachim Treusch of Jacobs University Bremen.
In her function as former president of the European University Viadrina, and as professor of political science, Prof. Dr. Gesine Schwan accepted an invitation to act as keynote speaker during the ceremony.
- Prof. Dr. Gesine Schwan
Prof. Dr. Gesine Schwan held her Keynote on
Educating Elites as a Problem of Democratic Politics
I. Introduction
What's your puzzle? What do you really want to find out? This question is asked at the preliminary discussion of virtually every scientific work: from proseminars to doctoral theses. The subject of today's lecture, too, demands clarification of where the problem mentioned actually lies. I see three ways of defining it. One aspect could lie in the tense relationship between the elite and democracy. Does educating elites run contrary to democratic equality? A second could be formulated in the following double question: What is the objective of education and training in democracy? And what role can educating elites play here? And finally: What can and should democratic politics contribute to this?
I will do my best to deal with all three questions, one after another.
...
(Complete keynote manuscript for download)
The full program of the BIGSSS Opening Ceremony can be viewed here.
