Published books

University PR and Efforts to Prevent Research Misconduct: Gold, Glory and Integrity

Current universities are equipped with communication, marketing and PR departments. They are also furnished with research integrity officers and formalities to fight academic misconduct. In Europe half a century ago, such university features were unheard-of. They evolved at roughly the same time, but are they interrelated and, if so, how? Why does the otherwise frank, but strangely isolated research integrity discourse hardly ever enquire critically into institutional PR efforts? In addition, is there a risk that universities—although liberal institutions—might develop illiberal traits and, to further their reputation as efficient business corporations, distance themselves from classic academic virtues? These are salient questions to anybody concerned with research integrity and the university as an institution, and form the focus of this book. Composed of three interconnected essays and considering historical developments, it will inspire reflection and debate on the future of European universities as liberal, cultural institutions.
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Academic book: The science communication challenge

‘The Science Communication Challenge’ explores and discusses the whys – as distinct from the hows – of science communication. Arguing that the dominant science communication paradigm is didactic, it makes the case for a political category of science communication, aimed at furthering discussions of science-related public affairs and making room for civilized and reasonable exchanges between different points of view. As civil societies and knowledge societies, modern democratic societies are confronted with the challenge of accommodating both the scientific logic of truth-seeking and the classical political logic of pluralism. The didactic science communication paradigm, however, is unsuited to dealing with substantial disagreement. Therefore, it is also unsuited to facilitate communication about the steadily increasing number of science-related political issues. Using insights from an array of academic fields, the book explores the possible origins of the didactic paradigm, connecting it to particular understandings of knowledge, politics and the public and to the widespread assumption of a science-versus-politics dichotomy. The book offers a critique of that assumption and suggests that science and politics be seen as substantially different activities, suited to dealing with different kinds of questions – and to different varieties of science communication.

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