Program
- 16.15 Welcome and a short introduction by Ole Andreas Kvamme
- 16.20 “The Cosmopolitan Turn in Education and the Eclipse of Cosmopolitan Justice” by Marianna Papastephanou
- 17.15 Comments by Torill Strand
- 17.30 Discussion
- 18.00 Reception at the 5th floor, Helga Eng
About the Guest Lecture
In this guest lecture, Marianna Papastephanou critically examines the "cosmopolitan turn" within and beyond the sciences, emphasizing its lack of a foundational sense of justice. But why is this the case, and what are the potential implications? Isn't a tangible engagement with rooted cosmopolitan justice essential for making the world a better place?
Abstract: In this lecture, I discuss what many scholars have aptly described as a “cosmopolitan turn” in educational theory and, more broadly, in educational sciences interested in the global situation and politics. This turn does not necessarily entail that education became more cosmopolitan. It rather means that the study of education has turned to cosmopolitanism in search of a normative response to the handful of crises that the western world perceives as threatening of its political order or survival.
What seems odd or even contradictory is that the string of challenges to which cosmopolitan education is expected to respond does not contain that of cosmopolitan injustices. It typically contains climate change, economic volatility, migration, regressive ideologies and so on, without connecting these to a misused, misguided or even missing sense of cosmopolitan justice. Against this backdrop, I shall argue that a head-on engagement with cosmopolitan justice, especially in its territorial aspect that should be key to rooted cosmopolitanism, is crucial to political education whatever turn this may take in the future.
Practical information
- The lecture is open, no registration is required.
- The lecture and comments will be in English.
- The lecture is organized by the research group Humanities Studies in Education and is part of the PhD course "Political Philosophy of Education" (UV9412).
- The lecture will be followed by a reception. Everybody is warmly welcome to attend the reception.
Contact
Professor Torill Strand
About Marianna Papastephanou
Professor Marianna Papastephanou has published extensively on key issues related to the political philosophies of education, particularly in the area of cosmopolitanism. Her notable works include "Thinking Differently About Cosmopolitanism" (Boulder, 2012), "Cosmopolitanism: Educational, Philosophical, and Historical Perspectives" (Springer, 2016), and "Cosmopolitanism and Education" (Oxford Encyclopedia, 2022). Currently, she teaches Philosophy of Education at the Department of Education, University of Cyprus. Find out more about Professor Marianna Papastephanou.