Dear Mark,

                   Thank you for alerting me to the Leverhulme Trust's
project "The uses of higher education".  As you know, for the last 34 years
I have been arguing, in and out of print, that we urgently need to transform
academia from "knowledge-inquiry" to "wisdom-inquiry".  Wisdom-inquiry
would, at the very least, put problems of living at the heart of the
academic enterprise (although much more than that would be involved).  I
would be very interested in putting in an application for a grant from the
Leverhulme Trust for a research project under the heading "The Uses of
Higher Education" related to the idea that universities should be
transformed so that something like wisdom-inquiry prevails - and academic
inquiry gives priority to helping humanity tackle its immense global
problems in increasingly cooperatively ways.  There are very many issues
that we might take up.  If anyone is interested, please get in touch.  Here
are a few of my publications on the subject:-

N. Maxwell, "The Rationality of Scientific Discovery", Philosophy of Science
41, 1974, pp. 123-153 & 247-295.
_________, What's Wrong With Science?, Bran's Head Books, 1976.
_________, From Knowledge to Wisdom, Basil Blackwell, 1984.
_________, 'What Kind of Inquiry Can Best Help Us Create a Good World?',
Science, Technology and Human Values 17, 1992, pp. 205-27.

_________, The Comprehensibility of the Universe, Oxford University Press,
1998.
_________, 'Can Humanity Learn to Become Civilized?  The Crisis of Science
without Civilization', Journal of Applied Philosophy 17, 2000, pp. 29-44,
available online at
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00001709/

_________, Is Science Neurotic?, Imperial College Press, 2004.
_________, 'Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos and Aim-Oriented Empiricism', Philosophia
32, Nos. 1-4, 2005, pp. 181-239, available online at:-
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00000251/

There is also stuff about my work on my website:-
www.nick-maxwell.demon.co.uk

Best wishes,

Nicholas Maxwell
(Emeritus Reader and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College
London)


----- Original Message -----
From: "Levene M
Subject: Leverhulme trust and a possible opportunity


Dear forumers,

As you know Crisis Forum is primarily in the business of trying to develop
academic projects which look beyond the ivory tower and are of value to the
common weal. To a significant extent,our focus, necessarily but far from
exclusively, has focused on climate change. There remains, however, the
state of the academy itself. And hence the great degree to which it itself
needs reforming on just about every conceivable level, to meet what James
Howard Kunstler would call 'The Long Emergency' before us.

With that in view, I'm flying a kite here by bringing your attention to this
year's scheme run by the Leverhulme Trust, one of whose two projects for
2007 is on the theme  THE USES OF HIGHER EDUCATION. Crisis Forum has felt
strongly for some time that some of our effort should be geared towards how
we can genuinely 'green' universities to make them genuine beacons for
change in an era of acute crisis. A key element would be curricula itself
across the university board, as above all geared towards the climate change
'long emergency'.  As you will see from below Leverhulme attempts to deflect
too many bids by going on about senior researchers etc. I would however like
to hit them between the eyes with a proposal for a really acute case for a
comprehensive rethink of what higher education now needs urgently to be
about. There's only one snag. I personally, am hopelessly overcommitted (not
least to two Crisis Forum projects already in motion)  and  would need
several collaborators, with a lead one,  to genuinely pick up on this and
run with it.

So, here's my question, are there people out there, - I can think of some
particular people(!)-  who might want to do something along these lines?
The proof of the pudding (as they say) is in what we 'do' and this seems to
me to be as good opportunity for the doing as any which currently presents
itself. Again, the snag, it needs some initial focusing for the immediate 12
January deadline.

So, over to you, and hopefully some response! Cheers,
Mark

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---------------------------------------------
Leverhulme Research Programmes
http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/grants_awards/grants/research_programmes/
Description | Aim | Awards for 2007 | (1) Ceremony and Ritual | (2) The Uses
of higher education | Additional Information | How to apply | Application
notes | Application forms | Contact

Description
Research Programme Grants were first offered in 1995 and sixteen themes have
thus far enjoyed the concentrated attention which the format of the awards
allows.

Aim
In recent years, the Trustees have allocated sums of up to £1.75m for
programmes of research extending for periods of up to five years, which can
explore significant issues in the social sciences, in the humanities and, to
a lesser extent, in the sciences. In choosing the themes for these programme
awards, the Trustees have given weight to the following criteria:

the opportunity for original thinking in the subject;
the opportunity for progress in the research;
the potential impact of such progress on other researchers and on the wider
community;
the susceptibility of the theme to treatment as a set of projects within an
over-arching cross-disciplinary concept;
the inability of the other schemes of the Trust to deal appropriately with
the research challenge.
Awards for 2007
Following a review of possible themes for a competition in 2007, the
Trustees now wish to invite proposals for programme awards on:

(1) CEREMONY AND RITUAL

(2) THE USES OF HIGHER EDUCATION

(2) The Uses of higher education
Despite the almost universal recognition of the value of education and the
benefit of a healthy university sector, this recognition is itself often
built on contrasting viewpoints and objectives. Is education for a specific
measurable purpose (e.g., GDP)? Is it for an abstract goal (e.g., knowledge,
wisdom)? Or is it an end in itself? In these days of assessment and
evaluation, is it clear that the criteria match the objectives? Such
questions arise at all stages but they are particularly prevalent for the
university sector.

Reflection on such questions either in the absolute or with specific
historical or cultural reference is required to ensure that shared
understandings are indeed what they seem. Topics that arise include:

i) aspects of utility; are certain subjects essential? when are specialisms
appropriate? can values be taught? which of these if any can indeed be
measured? are arguments of utility damaging to a deeper function?

ii) the role of institutions; is there a confident match of institutions to
function? is variety possible in an evaluated system?

iii) aspects of policy; are there judicious balances between accountability
and autonomy? between individual or institutional creativity on the one hand
and directed initiatives on the other?

The Research Programme Grant will seek to offer the opportunity to bring
refreshing levels of scholarship and understanding to the debate of such
issues particularly insofar as these impact on the university sector.

Additional Information
The descriptions of the topics above are no more than indications;
researchers will have their own views on specific research projects which
might be most usefully pursued, on different methodologies, and on the use
of disciplinary or interdisciplinary approaches. Applicants should bear in
mind that, while the potential quality of the proposed research will be the
major factor in a final decision about any grant, that decision will also be
influenced by the persuasiveness with which applicants make the case for
specific emphases and methodologies, and for the choice of subjects within
their proposed programmes.

The intent is to make one award under each category, but the Trust reserves
the right to make more awards where exceptional applications are
encountered.

Applications should be made only by groups of senior researchers, or by
existing research centres or teams with an established record of publication
and scholarly achievement in relevant fields. It is anticipated that any
grants will ultimately be made to individual universities or research
centres or institutes. However, if a good case is made for a grant for a
programme of co-operative research involving more than one institution, that
will be considered.

How to apply
In the first instance, only brief submissions are necessary (see below).
These should reach the Director no later than 4pm on 12 January 2007. At the
beginning of March 2007, a small number of groups or centres will be invited
to submit expanded proposals for a deadline of 27 April 2007. On the basis
of referees' comments and assessments and of meetings with representatives
of the Trust during May and June, a decision on the eventual awards will be
taken by the Trustees for announcement in July 2007.

The brief submission should consist of the following sections. Seven copies
are required and should be sent in hard copy form by post. In order to
ensure that full consideration can be given to each application, it is
necessary to request the closest compliance with the indications given.

Completed cover sheet.
Brief description of the programme, in no more than 3,000 words under the
following headings:
the proposed nature and emphases of the research programme and its component
projects;
the research methods and sources to be used;
general brief summaries of the qualifications of the researchers;
the anticipated form of the dissemination of the research results;
information on any relevant research currently under way in your
institution/department.
An estimated total budget (between £0.5 - £1.75 million). Applicants are
encouraged to present the budgets in a format which conforms to the Trust's
stipulations for research project grants concerning eligible items and the
balance between research salaries and associated costs (see here ). For
academic researchers with general university obligations, budgets may
include the cost of replacement teaching (preferably on an hourly-paid
basis) for one or more senior researchers for part of the duration of the
proposed programme. Please note that the Trust does not make awards on a
full economic costing basis. Attention is drawn to paragraphs 3.31 to 3.37
of the Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014, HM Treasury,
which explains arrangements for the provision of overheads linked to charity
funding to academic institutions.