Want to sample the most inspiring teaching from across your uni, as voted by the student body? Click here to fruni your uni...
University of Southampton
We'd like as many unis as possible to be free range. But unis say (rightly!) that they need to see that students, staff and alumni like the idea before they'll make it happen.
Support at your uni
"It seems such a shame to let such great lecturers only share their knowledge and experience with those lucky enough to attend the university!"
Sam
"Southampton University is one of the leading institutions in the world, yet the city falls well below the national average in terms of school-leavers holding 5 A*-C GCSEs. In a time when the monetary barriers that may deter the capable from a university education are higher than ever, with sky-rocketing fees and the loans simply not covering basic living costs, there has never been a time when the democratisation of information and the free spread of ideas has been more important.
Education isn't for the chosen elite or the lucky few. I think this is a fantastic opportunity for some of the world's best intellectuals to inform and inspire a huge range of people who might otherwise have never taken an interest in their given subjects, or had the opportunity to do so. I fully support this initiative coming to Southampton."
Benjamin
"Universities' life comes from the sharing and debating of ideas. As an aspiring academic this is a fantastic opportunity to open up boundaries and display work to audiences that might not experience it and to widen the perspectives of students of knowledge within their own subject disciplines. The benefits are endless, whether its opening up student (current and potential) to new ideas, concepts and fields of learning, to breaking down 'gowny vs towny' bariers, to gaining extra support (potentially even financial) for research, increasing a university's research profile and many more besides. This idea is simply brilliant and all good universities should consider and implement it for their own benefit and for the benefit of society as a whole!"
Thomas
"University is an amazing resource and it's important to make sure that people have access to all it offers."
John
"Good idea to encourage better lecturing"
Richard
"It just makes sense for Universities to support the welfare of sentient beings, anything less shouldn't meet the ethical standards of the highly educated."
George
"My ideas and beliefs about people, my passions and the world have been changed by some of the most inspirational speakers at my University."
Alexandra
"Knowledge is a resource that shouldn't be limited to a select group of people or geographical location. Sharing knowledge and ideas is a powerful tool for solving global problems and the advancement of human potential towards excellence and sustainability. Thanks to the internet, it is becoming easier to achieve this goal. Some American Universities, such as MIT, already recognize the benefits of an unrestricted and openly shared knowledge platform ( through their project www.ocw.mit.edu) and the positive impact it is able to make on a global scale. I would love to see a similar and even better platform being implemented in the UK, Europe and ultimately all over the world and this is why I offer my support for the 'fruni' project. :) :)"
Ifeoluwapo
"I think that The University of Southampton has such a diverse range of students who should have available to them a wide range of opportunities to explore other areas of interest, not just the course they are studying."
Nicola
