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Today LERU releases a special publication celebrating the academic heritage of its member universities. 18 November is not only the day when the LERU Rectors meet for their biannual assembly, it is also the day which Universeum, the European University Heritage Network, has proclaimed as European Academic Heritage Day. Quite a unique occasion, also because the publication is one of several special initiatives to celebrate LERU’s 20th anniversary in 2022.
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The book is full of amazing stories and pictures of fabulous objects and matchless collections held by LERU universities. Universities were among the first institutions to collect objects systematically and for a specific purpose. Nowadays, the diversity and number of museums, libraries, galleries and collections at LERU universities are striking and cover all fields of knowledge.
What is more, the book goes beyond celebrating the exceptional value of LERU universities’ material and immaterial heritage. It talks about how new cutting-edge technologies such as 3-D printing and AI change the educational, research and societal possibilities of universities’ academic heritage collections, how science communication and public engagement around the collections have grown, how sustainability, social responsibility and ethical issues have come to the fore, and much more.
Dr Sébastien Soubiran, President of Universeum, researcher and director of the science outreach department at LERU member the University of Strasbourg, wrote an introductory essay to the book. He is also giving a speech at the LERU Rectors’ Assembly on the topic of academic heritage. In his view university museums, libraries and galleries are “an ideal tool not only to experiment with new practices in curating scientific knowledge, but also to knock down walls and to facilitate dialogue between the broader public and universities, between local communities and academics. They are the best place to constitute a forum that supports collective reflection and actions on a much-needed renewed contract between science and society.”
All Rectors receive their personal copy of the book during the Assembly. Prof. Yves Flückiger, LERU Chair and Rector of the Université de Genève, comments: “With this book on academic heritage, we not only cherish our centuries-old history. We also show how universities are firmly oriented towards the future. Academic heritage is connected to all of universities’ main missions. It is a telling example which raises awareness of the breadth and depth of LERU universities’ activities, how they are internally and externally deeply interconnected, how they are places where freedom of thought and the search for truth are essential, and how they remain one of the most precious constructions of humanity.”
The book, which is freely available digitally on the LERU website, has been curated by a team of three editors: Dr Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost, Library, Culture, Collections, Open Science & Scholarship (LCCOS), University College London; Dr Katrien Maes, Ambassador Special Initiatives Engagement and Impact, LERU Office; and Prof. Bart Raymaekers, Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Rector’s Advisor on Culture, Art and Heritage, KU Leuven.
Universeum is organising an online morning coffee on 18 November to celebrate European Academic Heritage Day and to discuss social media entries of an online campaign through Instagram and Twitter. See https://www.universeum-network.eu/european-academic-heritage-day-2022/
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