Cusanus University for Society

Cusanus University for Society
founding	May 26, 2015
Sponsorship	free
place	Bernkastel-Kues
state	Rhineland-Palatinate
country	Germany
Website	www.cusanus-hochschule.de

University building

The Cusanus University for Society is a state-recognized , independent university in Bernkastel-Kues / Mosel. It was founded in February 2014 by a group of academics, students and citizens as an independent non-profit foundation with a non-profit GmbH as the fiduciary carrier. One of the founding donors is the Kues Academy for European Intellectual History . The Cusanus University for Society is independent of economic, political and religious interests. Reinhard Loske, who has a degree in economics and a doctorate in political science, has been president of the university since April 1, 2019 .

In terms of content, the university stands for a fundamental renewal of economic thinking and action in order to be able to address urgent fields of design of the present. Plural, critical and sustainability-oriented approaches to economic issues should lead to innovative forms of society.

The name of the university goes back to Nikolaus von Kues and refers to his humanistic educational ideal, which understands active personality development as part of the educational process. Since February 2020, the university has been named Cusanus University for Society . This addition to the name is accompanied by a further development in terms of content and a realignment of the still young university. In a process that lasted almost a year, in which teachers and students were equally involved, a common vision was developed which is now the basis for teaching, research, institutional design and dialogue with society.

history

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The idea for the Cusanus University was born. a. in the Kueser Academy for European Intellectual History - a network of around 120 national and international scientists from philosophy, economics, natural sciences, engineering and history. On February 12, 2014, over twenty people from science, politics and society, together with the Kues Academy, founded the Cusanus University as a university in the process of being founded. Already in January 2014, before the accreditation by the Science Council, the Kueser Academy tested certificates at Master's level. Contents and experiences were incorporated into the start-up courses at the master’s level.

In October 2014 the university moved into the historic town hall of Bernkastel. In December 2014, the four start-up courses were successfully accredited. The high social relevance of the study programs was expressly recognized by the accreditation agency. It was not until May 2015 that the relevant ministry issued the operating permit. The Cusanus University was then founded at the end of May 2015.

The founding board of directors consisted of Harald Spehl (President), Silja Graupe (Professorship for Economics and Philosophy, Vice President of the University), Harald Schwaetzer (Professorship for Philosophy, Vice President of the University) and Frank Vierheilig (Managing Director of Cusanus Treuhand gGmbH, Chancellor of the University). In 2016 Martin Thomé took over the office of President. He resigned on September 30, 2017 to move to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research . On November 20, 2017, Silja Graupe was elected Acting President. The economist and political scientist and former member of the Bundestag Reinhard Loske has been President since April 1, 2019 .

Despite considerable efforts on the part of the professors in charge, the executive committee of the Cusanus University claimed that by the beginning of the 2018/19 winter semester the university's institute for philosophy had not been able to attract enough students and sponsors - both of which are vital factors at a privately financed university. A resulting conflict between the university management and the majority of the members of the Institute of Philosophy escalated so severely by March 2019 that all members of the Institute of Philosophy finally terminated their employment contracts until the winter semester 2019/20. Member of the state parliament, Alexander Licht , also publicly criticized the Presidium's approach. New matriculations in the two philosophical courses of study have not been possible since the winter semester 2019/20. According to its own statements, philosophy at the Cusanus University will no longer be geared towards a “pure philosophy of the mind”, but more towards economy, social responsibility and society.

In the course of the further development of the content and the realignment as a university for social organization, the university has completely revised its range of courses. Proven elements of the previous courses in economics and philosophy have been retained and new, innovative curricula have been created at the same time. According to the university, the vision of all new courses is a life-serving economy and society in which people can actively overcome the social, economic and ecological crises of the present. Against this background, the university would like to impart the knowledge, ability and personal strength to shape change in a responsible and sustainable manner. She sees herself as a pioneer of a new academic orientation that wants to offer meaningful alternatives to resignation and radicalization and enables people to solve problems peacefully and at the same time profoundly.

With the content-related realignment of the university, the Ministry for Science, Further Education and Culture of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate announced on April 8, 2020 that the state recognition of the university will be extended until the end of 2024. At the same time, the extended name "Cusanus University for Society" was confirmed by the ministry.

The former 'Hotel 3 Könige' on the banks of the Moselle has served as the university's main building since the summer semester of 2019.

Education

The university currently offers three courses:

1. Economics - Sustainability - Transformation (Bachelor of Arts): The Bachelor course focuses on dealing with central crises of the time and the various approaches to socio-ecological transformation. It should enable people to take on responsibility in a science-based and ethically reflected manner. An interdisciplinary theoretical basis is imparted through practical orientation and a philosophical foundation.
2. Economics - Sustainability - Shaping Society (Master of Arts) : The consecutive course promotes a deep introduction into economics, into its history, into philosophical reflection on it and into its criticism in order to meet the diverse challenges of the present. Teaching and learning are transdisciplinary. In addition, the course builds on a broad interdisciplinary foundation, which innovatively combines plural economics, other social sciences and philosophy.
3. Economics - Responsibility - Institutional Design (Master of Arts) : The consecutive course should enable people to do business with a sense of community that is conducive to life. Together with practitioners, the students solve real problems of value-based management. In this way, a new economic way of thinking that can prove itself directly in practice is to be tried out. The focus is also on an interdisciplinary understanding of today's human problems and the demonstration of ways in which the economization of society and nature can be overcome. With this master’s degree, a combination of studies, commitment and assumption of responsibility should be made possible into a meaningful whole.

The Studia humanitatis are interdisciplinary courses which, as the core of all courses, take into account the university’s universal understanding of education and promote the personality development of the students.

The courses take place almost exclusively in block seminars, so that students who do not permanently reside in Bernkastel-Kues have the opportunity to study. Almost all courses are taught in seminars in groups of a maximum of 25 students. As a result, the range of courses at Cusanus University differs significantly from conventional courses in the "mass subject of economics" in didactic terms.

Financing and organization

The Cusanus University for Society and its sponsoring company, Cusanus Treuhand gGmbH, are non-profit. The university finances itself exclusively through tuition fees, foundations and donations. The Cusanus University for Society sets great store by the fact that its members are actually free to shape the internal processes of teaching, research and administration. It is therefore organized as a non-profit trust foundation supported by a gGmbH. This society serves exclusively the university life. Without pursuing her own goals, she manages the university as a real trustee in her own name, but not in her own interest. Your shareholders accept that they have only been given all the rights of the university in “safe hands”, on the condition that they do not use these rights for their own benefit. In this way, the Cusanus University for Society should "belong to itself."

Student community

The students of the Cusanus University for Society and the Kueser Academy for European Intellectual History have joined together to form the Cusanus Student Community. The members of this non-profit association see themselves as “pioneers of a university initiative” and organize a large number of their own activities in the context of educational events and student accommodation. Overall, the student community played and continues to play a key role in founding, financing and organizing teaching.

Fonts

Members of the Cusanus University for Society Design are involved in the publication of the following series and journals:

• Critical studies on the market and society (Ed. By Silja Graupe, Jakob Kapeller and Walter Ötsch, Metropolis, Marburg).
• International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education (IJPEE), Inderscience, Geneva. Member of the editorial board (Silja Graupe)
• Yearbook Ecology , S. Hirzel-Verlag, co-editor (Reinhard Loske)

Web links

• Homepage

Individual evidence

1. ^ About the person: The biography of Reinhard Loske. Retrieved May 8, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Who we are. Retrieved October 28, 2019 (German). 
3. ^ Reorganization of the Cusanus University and its courses. March 12, 2019, accessed on October 28, 2019 (German). 
4. ↑ Name and logo. Retrieved October 28, 2019 (German). 
5. ↑ Name and logo. Accessed April 15, 2020 (German). 
6. ^ Cusanus University becomes the Cusanus University for Society. February 7, 2020, accessed on April 15, 2020 (German). 
7. ^ Cusanus University becomes the Cusanus University for Society. In: Eifel newspaper. February 12, 2020, accessed on April 15, 2020 (German). 
8. ↑ Britta Mersch: The Deviator - Campus portrait with Silja Graupe. (PDF) German University Newspaper , March 2015, accessed on July 28, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Cusanus University moves to the town hall. Trierischer Volksfreund , October 29, 2014, accessed on July 28, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Degree programs of high social relevance. (PDF) Cusanus University, January 22, 2015, accessed on July 28, 2015 . 
11. ↑ We are a university! (PDF) Cusanus University, May 29, 2015, accessed on July 28, 2015 . 
12. ↑ Election of Prof. Dr. Silja Graupe as the temporary interim president. Cusanus University, November 23, 2017, accessed August 4, 2018 . 
13. ^ About the person: The biography of Reinhard Loske. Retrieved October 10, 2019 .  
14. ↑ Loske Reinhard. Retrieved October 10, 2019 .  
15. ↑ Get involved! Accessed November 20, 2019 (German). 
16. ^ Hans-Peter Linz: Dispute in the Cusanus University: professors quit. Trierischer Volksfreund , March 12, 2019, accessed on May 24, 2019 . 
17. ^ Reorganization of the Cusanus University and its courses. March 12, 2019, accessed on October 28, 2019 (German). 
18. ^ Realignment of the Cusanus University. May 29, 2019, accessed on December 17, 2019 (German). 
19. ^ Reorganization of the Cusanus University and its courses. March 12, 2019, accessed on October 28, 2019 (German). 
20. ↑ Hans-Peter Linz: Education: Trouble about Cusanus University: Politicians stay away from reception. Retrieved July 23, 2019 .  
21. ↑ New courses offered by the Cusanus University for Society. March 19, 2020, accessed on April 15, 2020 (German). 
22. ^ Cusanus University becomes the Cusanus University for Society. In: Eifel newspaper. February 12, 2020, accessed on April 15, 2020 (German). 
23. ^ Volksfreund: Research: Cusanus University: Recognition extended until 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2020 . 
24. ↑ That's what it's about. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (German). 
25. ↑ Contents & formats. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (German). 
26. ↑ That's what it's about. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (German). 
27. ↑ Contents & formats. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (German). 
28. ↑ That's what it's about. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (German). 
29. ↑ Contents & formats. Retrieved May 15, 2020 (German). 
30. ↑ Our teaching concept. Retrieved October 10, 2019 (German). 
31. ↑ Our teaching concept. Retrieved October 28, 2019 (German). 
32. ↑ University Rectors' Conference : The course phase in economics . Ed .: University Rectors' Conference. SZ-Druck & Verlagsservice GmbH, Bonn 2016, p. 9 ( hrk-nexus.de [PDF]).
33. ↑ Get involved! Retrieved October 28, 2019 (German). 
34. ↑ Silja Graupe, Harald Schwaetzer and Harald Spehl: The vision of a new teaching. (PDF) In: Böll THEMA. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung eV, January 2014, pp. 28–30 , accessed on July 28, 2015 . 
35. ^ Academic autonomy. Retrieved October 28, 2019 (German). 
36. ^ Cusanus Studierendengemeinschaft eV Cusanus Studierendengemeinschaft e. V., accessed July 30, 2015 . 
37. ↑ ISSN 1869-9782
38. ↑ International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education (IJPEE) Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research. Retrieved October 10, 2019 . 
39. ↑ Editor - YEARBOOK ECOLOGY. Retrieved October 10, 2019 (German).