Editorial

 

The second issue of the journal ACADEMIA has arrived!

The first issue seems to have had a significant impact seeing as it was consulted by a considerable number of virtual visitors around the world.

The second issue contains four (five) (4 (5)) papers and three (3) book reviews. The book reviews are a new element of ACADEMIA. These reviews may be classically academic in nature, but they can also be presented as a tool that has influenced the work or the state of mind of the author. In this case, they contain a "relationship" which takes on personal aspects and dynamic dimensions since the books influences the configuration of new research and texts. 

 

Regarding the articles:

The first article was written by Professor Emeritus at the University of Peloponnese, Kladis Dionyssis. It is entitled "University Governance: Democracy or Efficiency?” and it deals with a very real issue concerning university governance, namely the global debate revolving around "democracy" and "efficiency." Using Greece as an example, he negotiates the issue of the need for the social accountability of the University. The author highlights a shift from forms of social accountability to entrepreneurial type accountability. Particular reference is made in the text to the position and the role of students in university governance.  Note that this text is an expanded version of the author’s intervention at the “Higher Education Policy” network’s seminar for PhD candidates (http://hepnet.upatras.gr).  

 

The second article was written by a doctor from the University of Aix-Marseille, Stavrou Sophia, and is entitled “The connection between university and labour market through the prism of the "recontextualisation" of curricula in the French universities”. The article discusses the issue of the relationship between the university and the labor market, encouraged by EU policies and applied in Europe. This is policy, which promotes the rethinking of university curricula. This article focuses on the French example and uses Basil Bernstein’s concept of the “recontextualization of knowledge”.

 

The third article was written by a professor from the University of Cadiz, José Luis Moreno Pestaña and is entitled "Homo Academicus and analysis of intellectual fields". The paper proposes an epistemological analysis of the "academic". Based on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, it analyzes the social construction of homo academicus, which is converted into an object of research in sociology.

 

The fourth article was written by Athanassouli Kyriaki, a doctor and researcher at the Centre of Planning and Economic Research. Her work bears the title " Transition from education to employment: A case study of graduates from faculties of Philosophy in Greece”. It focuses on two points: on the one hand, the strong feminization of faculties of Philosophy in Greece, and on the other hand, the restriction of access to public sector posts and the necessity of accepting fluctuating work conditions and badly paid jobs in a climate of insecurity created by the economic crisis.

Then, three book reviews include:

Post Doctor of the University of Patras, Victoria Konidari presents Martin Heidegger’s book, "Building, Living, Thinking". This is a text first published in 1952 and translated into Greek in 2008 by the Greek editions "Plethron." The author manages to show how a book written by a philosopher and sent initially to architects can be useful for research in the field of education!

Doctor of the University of the Peloponnese, Antigone Sarakinioti has chosen Martin Lawn & Sotiria Grek’s book "Europeanizing education: governing a new political space", published in 2012 by Symposium Books Ltd publications, Oxford. The book analyzes the main EU policies and education policies developed on the European continent over the past 60 years.

Finally, a PhD student from the University of Patras, George Angelopoulos presents Ludwik Fleck’s book "Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact", which was published for the first time in 1935. This is a book that faced total oblivion, before its value was recognized through Merton, Kuhn and Trenn’s translation into English at the University of Chicago Press, in 1979. In the introduction, Kuhn acknowledges the influence of Fleck’s thought on his work.

Happy reading!

Georgios Stamelos

Professor, Editor