I am sure that much of the research is there in one form or another, but I am still surprised by how little has been made of the impact of universities on the cultural life of cities, regions, and nations, except in endless reports, prompted by the need to show universities’ mainly economic contribution to culture and the cultural industries. (For example, most recently in the U.K., the “Degrees of Value” report has been published by Universities U.K. which tries to assess universities’ broader social and cultural returns). But these reports, although they may be fine in their own terms, do often miss the sheer breadth of universities’ cultural interventions.
Perhaps this is because the whole thing seems so obvious. Think only of the power of site – and the prominence of Oxford in the cultural make-up of England. I love the lists of books that you can find on the internet that list which Oxford college features in which novel or movie or TV series. Or think of the number of times Harvard figures in movies (although very often other locations have acted as stand-ins: I recommend The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations Web site as a start but it does not include one of the most stylish appearances of Harvard in “Heaven’s Gate”).
Then, there is the sheer number of cultural leaders and other cultural luminaries who are or have been associated with universities. The cultural life of most nations would be the poorer without them, of that there can be no doubt.
Finally, universities have remarkable collections, whether these are contained in libraries or museums or art galleries. These are often treasure troves: think only of the cluster of museums in Oxford. I once had the privilege of being associated with the Pitt Rivers museum there which, with its new extension, is even more gloriously idiosyncratic.
But things are more complicated than simply the issue of sites or people or libraries and museums and art galleries. In particular, reports often do not pick up how the cultural life of universities is constantly mutating in various ways. Let me mention just three examples.
First, think of the extraordinary burgeoning of creative writing since the first course was set up at the University of East Anglia in the 1960s. These courses tend to be populated by various important writers. For example, Warwick’s program currently has A L Kennedy and China Mieville on its faculty and is led by David Morley, a poet of the first order.
Then, there is the importance of various arts and cultural centers. In many universities, these centers are at the heart of the community. But what can often be forgotten is the upwelling of the various forms of cultural outreach that they now undertake to local communities which brings the power of the arts into many lives.
Finally, there is an expanding presence on the Web. Just consider the ways in which much contemporary performance is being driven by a hybrid of site-specific events and Internet links which aim to be much more than a simple extension. Universities have been at the forefront of this expansion.
But one thing strikes me as still often missing and that is cooperation between universities. So I think of examples of arts organizations in the U.K. like Artangel — the example is inspired by a recent visit to St. Pancras station in London and the presence there of Lavinia Greenlaw’s sound installation — which put on site-specific performances all around London. Or there is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s intention to mount performances all around the U.K. during the Olympics. I wonder why there are only limited equivalents of this kind of activity amongst British universities which would allow their many performances not just to be integrated but to wander from site to site. Or why not, indeed, more international cooperation to produce events that can take place in many universities around the world at once? There are instances, especially concerned with art and museum exhibitions, but perhaps it is time for universities to think more systematically about the cultural impacts that they might be able to have on the world stage.
