Nathan M. Greenfield ’80 for University World News: “How Virtual Colleges Are Keeping the Academic Project Alive”
A Parami University student attends an online class. Photo courtesy of Parami University
For University World News, Bard alumnus Nathan M. Greenfield ’80 examines the role of three virtual higher education programs—Smolny Beyond Borders, Parami University, and Invisible University for Ukraine—in keeping liberal arts academic values alive in the face of authoritarian pressures. In interviews with leaders from each school and with students, Greenfield sheds light on the importance of such institutions and the challenges they face.
Bard College Berlin’s Philip Fedchin, project manager of Smolny Beyond Borders, explains how the online institution was established in 2021 in the vacuum after Bard College instructors teaching at St. Petersburg State University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences were ordered to leave Russia. Kyaw Moe Tun, president of Parami University, discusses how Bard College Annandale founded the virtual liberal arts college after he was forced to flee Myanmar in 2021 following a military coup. And Oleksandr Shtokvych, head of the Open Society University Network (OSUN) secretariat, describes how the Central European University established the Invisible University for Ukraine after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and the need arose for virtual courses to support Ukrainian students.
“The courses are designed with a therapeutic approach in mind. We were thinking, ‘What would Ukrainian students want to discuss?’” said Shtokvych, adding that each course “would be a valve for them to talk about their experiences, the tragedies, the losses, the war, and make sense of all of this."
Post Date: 04-02-2024
Bard College Berlin’s Philip Fedchin, project manager of Smolny Beyond Borders, explains how the online institution was established in 2021 in the vacuum after Bard College instructors teaching at St. Petersburg State University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences were ordered to leave Russia. Kyaw Moe Tun, president of Parami University, discusses how Bard College Annandale founded the virtual liberal arts college after he was forced to flee Myanmar in 2021 following a military coup. And Oleksandr Shtokvych, head of the Open Society University Network (OSUN) secretariat, describes how the Central European University established the Invisible University for Ukraine after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and the need arose for virtual courses to support Ukrainian students.
“The courses are designed with a therapeutic approach in mind. We were thinking, ‘What would Ukrainian students want to discuss?’” said Shtokvych, adding that each course “would be a valve for them to talk about their experiences, the tragedies, the losses, the war, and make sense of all of this."
Post Date: 04-02-2024