The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

This ‘University of the Future Network’ meeting took place at the Perry World House on Penn’s campus in Philadelphia, PA, USA from Thursday, October 11 to 12, 2018. In “Beyond the Walls: The University of the Future” we seek to examine the meaning of the university in an era when virtual and online education is transforming the brick-and-mortar campus. Stakeholders from across the University of Pennsylvania engaged in dialogue with global thought-leaders in higher education, teaching and learning innovation, digital media, social networks, and the role of the university in society and industry.

About the meeting

What is the future of the university? What is the university of the future? How have globalization, radical transformation of information technologies, digital media, and increasing demand for 21st-century skills and competencies combined to trigger an urgency for higher education institutions of all kinds to transform the ways they create and deliver content and respond to social and economic expectations? The summit agenda included roundtables on four themes:

  • The Global University (extending the university’s global reach in an increasingly complex world where connectivity is both an opportunity and a challenge for the university as we know it)
  • The Digital University (digital innovation in teaching and learning and the impact on the role of the university and the broader knowledge industries)
  • The Equitable University (the potential for the university to impact inequality through the students it reaches)
  • The Lifelong University (the role of the university in a world where accelerated knowledge creation requires a lifelong commitment to, and investment in, education and learning)
Read more about the public event

Attendance list

  • Josep Duart, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
  • Wallace Boston, American Public University System
  • Martha Burkle, Yukon College
  • Cristobal Cobo, Oxford Internet Institute
  • Peter Decherney, University of Pennsylvania
  • Mairead Dunne, University of Sussex
  • Ezekiel J. Emanuel, University of Pennsylvania
  • Steven J. Fluharty, School of Arts and Sciences
  • Alec Gershberg, The New School
  • Manuel González-Canche, University of Pennsylvania
  • Pam Grossman,
  • Mauro Guillen, University of Pennsylvania
  • Sarah Guri-Rosenblit, Open University of Israel
  • John L. Jackson. Jr., Richard Perry University
  • Vijay Kumar, Nemirovky Family Dean
  • Nora Lewis, University of Pennsylvania
  • Andrea Mangiatordi, Universita degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
  • Michael Power, University of Laval
  • Wendell Pritchett, University of Pennsylvania
  • Alan Ruby, University of Pennsylvania
  • Nikhil Sinha, Coursera
  • Rebecca Stein,
  • Alan Tait, The Open University
  • Candace Thille, Standford University
  • Airina Volungeviciene, Vytautas Magnus University
  • Leonard Wantcheckton, Princeton University
  • Uta Wehn, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
 

Why University of Pennsylvania?

The University of Pennsylvania is America's first university, it dates back to 1740. Penn is also one of the world’s most powerful research and teaching institutions, with a research budget of nearly 1 billion and more than 5.000 active faculty members. The expression of its powerful research system is represented in the 178 research centers and institutes of the university.