Geographies of the University

This open access volume raises awareness of the histories, geographies, and practices of universities and analyzes their role as key actors in today’s global knowledge economy. Universities are centers of research, teaching, and expertise with significant economic, social, and cultural impacts at different geographical scales. Scholars from a variety of disciplines and countries offer original analyses and discussions along five main themes: historical perspectives on the university as a site of knowledge production, cultural encounter, and political interest; institutional perspectives on university governance and the creation of innovative environments; relationships between universities and the city; the impact of universities on national and regional economies and cultures; and the processes of internationalization through student mobility, the creation of education hubs, and global regionalism in higher education.

Peter Meusburger is Distinguished Senior Professor of Social and Economic Geography at Heidelberg University. His main research interests are spatial and social disparities of educational achievement; the nexus between knowledge and space; milieus of creativity; relations between knowledge and power; spatial mobility of knowledge; knowledge and economic performance, and related fields. He has published more than 300 academic papers, book chapters and books, and has edited 28 books. Peter Meusburger holds a PhD in geography from Innsbruck University. Between 1983 and 2007 he had the chair of Social and Economic Geography at Heidelberg University. He was visiting scholar in Japan, USA, Hungary, China and Brazil. He served Heidelberg University as Dean and Prorector and was president of the Association of German Geographers between 2001 and 2003. He is the editor of the Springer series “Knowledge and Space”.

Laura Suarsana is research associate and doctoral student at the Department of Geography at Heidelberg University. Her research interest lies in the field of social and economic geography, with a focus on civil society, philanthropy, social networks, and regional development. For her doctoral thesis, Laura Suarsana focuses on relations between civic engagement, public and common goods, and regional development. She conducted research and published on regional cooperation and networks of philanthropy and civil society in the Heilbronn-Franconia Region in Baden-Wurttemberg. She majored in Geography and Economics and wrote her diploma thesis on corporate social responsibility and regional development, in which she also has practical experience.