Introduction

Abstract

The university as we have known it is undergoing massive transformations. This observation is commonly made these days during discussions of the future of our academic system(s). While it certainly holds true for the “Western” strongholds of our globe, it likewise applies to a wide variety of marginalized contexts and locations beyond. For historical reasons, universities and academic systems differ considerably from place to place. However, the transformative process under analysis here is driven by major economic and technological developments generally subsumed under the label ‘globalization’. And although, the contemporary world deliberately puts the stress on change and ‘the new’, the traditional academic systems are challenged by the great juggernaut of globalized transformation on the level of the particular and the local.