SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATION WITHIN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE CASE OF AN ART-SCIENCE COLLABORATION

Abstract

At the University of Hertfordshire [UH] in UKwe have hosted a series of research projects into thechanging nature of the arts as it has been progressivelyacademicized and incorporated into the universitycommunity. We have observed that the dominant knowledgemodel of the academic community is the scientific one,valorising text-based reasoning, empirical research anddeterminacy. We have observed professional arts, on theother hand, valorising non-textual communication,conceptual research and indeterminacy. This struggle forlegitimacy can be described in terms of vocational versusacademic values, and the different capital and habitus of theactors. In our paper we describe the social space of thecontemporary arts in the university. We take as a case studya recent report by an arts professor at UH on an artssciencecollaboration which shows how this struggle wasplayed out, and the values and capital mobilized by thevarious actors.Index Terms ⎯ arts education, culture, paradigm, values.