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Thomasius's Legacy, or the Language Paradox of European Universities

Publication at Faculty of Humanities |
2019

Abstract

European universities today face a somewhat unpleasant dilemma: how to reconcile the apparently incompatible requirements of openness towards the world as well as their responsibilities towards the national communities in which they are located? Should they perform ever more of their instruction in internationally accessible English, even at a definite risk of isolation from the national society, or work all the more towards shaping public discourse within the prevailing state language? And above all: what will be the role of universities in the specific case of "post-Habsburg" Central Europe between previous efforts towards an open society and currently growing populism?