The Center for Theory is launching a new initiative entitled “Free Knowledge.” Here is the idea:
A democracy requires an educated public with access to information in a robust public sphere. Otherwise we become mired in a world where citizens are asked to make decisions about important matters without the knowledge to make those decisions. The Internet held the promise of “free information” but almost immediately, information became blocked behind paywalls. Universities are sites that have the potential to not only educate, but also provide a robust public sphere. Unfortunately, a university education is closed to many people, and any given university only services a limited amount of students.
What can we do to foster greater democracy using digital technology? We need to create a regulatory system that places people over profit. First, governments need to regulate social media platforms. Ideally, this would result in state-supported public social media in the model of public broadcast systems. Second, governments need to eliminate paywalls for information. This should include newspapers, television news, and scientific journals. If information wants to be free, we should make it happen. Finally, governments should regulate online education. This would be two-fold. First, regulating what information can be called a “university” – i.e., regulating YouTube to show that they are not in fact universities. And second, making public university courses available online for free through open access, open resources, and open pedagogy.
It is this last point in mind that the Center for Theory is creating “Free Knowledge.” We will have videos by faculty teaching the public. This comes in the form of video lectures, faculty discussing their research or intellectual influences, open colloquia, and much more.
Soon “Free Knowledge” will have its own website and YouTube page, but for now, you can view these videos on David Arditi’s YouTube page. If you’re interested in making videos or collaborating, please reach out to David Arditi to discuss options.
Goals
Free Knowledge aims to:
- Provide open access to scholarly information in video form.
- Foster a democratic society by educating the public.
- Open the classroom to the public.