Thursday and Friday, January 26-27, Doctor
David Webster will visit The Department
of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund
University, in Lund. David Webster has his position in University of
Gloucestershire (UK). He is doctor in philosophy, and has his main research
interests in issues and topics concerning religion, Buddhist studies, and
ethics. He is also the course leader for the program Religion, Philosophy and Ethics at The University of Gloucestershire. David is also interested in, and has lots of experience from,
digitalisation of higher education.
David will make two appearances when in Lund. On the Friday there is a
guest lecture open for everyone who’s interested in spirituality and our times.
David wants to discuss these things in a lecture entitled
”A Non-Spiritual Manifesto. How contemporary spirituality makes us stupid,
selfish and unhappy”.
Very Welcome to this, maybe, provocative event, everyone!
Time: Friday, January 27, 13.15-15.00 (c.)
Location: Room 109, ”Kulturanatomen”, Biskopsgatan 7, Lund
*
The day before, David will participate in the department’s research
seminar, ”Kulturseminariet”, and from different angles discuss the digital
possibilities for higher education. David Webster’s contribution has two
components:
Firstly he will give an account of the deployment of social-media
technology within his own work. This begins with a blog in 2006 - www.r-p-e.blogspot.com - and also podcasts and wikis in teaching units. He will also relate the
benefits and drawbacks to the use of Facebook with a course-wide set of
students. This will also discuss the public-facing nature of social-media work,
and the potential of this to be harnessed as a form of marketing collateral. In
addition to pedagogic and institutional concerns, Dr Webster will also consider
impacts in relation to the student experience more broadly.
Secondly, David wishes to investigate the possibility of collaborative
delivery of modules between institutions. The idea of a module on something
akin to 'The Digital Human' could be delivered both in the flesh, and via
video-link, with the use of virtual classrooms, podcasts and virtual learning
environments. Students studying and using digital technologies and building
virtual cohort identity while reflecting on it transforms their student
experience into action-research. This has skills-development potential as well
as scholarly merit. He seeks ideas about how this idea might be taken forward,
and whether our Universities might develop such a project.
And moreover, the seminar will also discuss this from the fact that the
department in the upcoming fall will start a brand new major (candidate
program): ”Digital Cultures”.
Time: Thursday, January 26, 13.15-15.00 (c.)
Location: Location: Room 202, ”Kulturanatomen”, Biskopsgatan 7, Lund
