Mission Statement
of Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences.
Preamble
At Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, students and staff in the arts and research, teaching, administration, libraries, and facility management work together to create a place of holistic education. The university’s central concern is to integrate an artistic attitude and capacity for action into scholarship, and philosophical and art-theoretical, or aesthetic, reflective ability into arts education. In dialogue with the social challenges of our time, the university promotes the connection of art and philosophy with fields of practice in economics, educational science, architecture, and the arts therapies.
Mutual openness, appreciation, and constructive interaction are important foundations for the actions of all members and affiliates of the university and shape its culture. We value and promote diversity—regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion/belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation and identity. We distance ourselves from exclusion and racism in any form.
Self-Understanding
Alanus University is committed to the freedom of scholarship and art in teaching and research. It strives for a high degree of inter- and transdisciplinary networking within and beyond the university.
The combination of scholarly and aesthetic education shapes the general atmosphere of study and work at Alanus University and is a key aspect of its appeal to students and faculty.
The university values lively exchange with other institutions and initiates and supports participatory projects in fields of social action. It maintains partnerships and cooperates with scholars, artists, and practitioners from other universities, research and educational institutions, and companies in Germany and abroad.
Profile and Objectives
Alanus University places equal emphasis on sound subject-specific education and on the personal development of its students. In this context, awareness of and commitment to the ecological and socio-political aspects of human action play an important role. In response to the many reductionist tendencies in society and scholarship, Alanus University advocates a holistic humanistic concept of education. It sees a particular task in providing an academic framework, committed to scholarly discourse, for the critical contemporizing discussion and artistically experimental exploration of anthroposophy and its educational impulses.
In scholarship and art, Alanus University follows the ideal of methodological diversity. The promotion of scholarly research and artistic development projects is, for the university, both a foundation for teaching at a high professional level and for supporting early-career scholars and artists. One of its most important goals is to equip students with creative competencies that extend beyond their respective core discipline. Studium Generale and artistic course offerings are integrated into all degree programs. Working in small learning groups with innovative teaching concepts enables intensive support and lively exchange between teachers and students.
Organization
The central self-governing body is the Senate, composed of elected representatives of all status groups. The Rectorate leads the university. It provides impetus and mediates both between the various internal university bodies and groups and between the university and external institutions and processes.
Professors, academic staff, administration, libraries, facility management, the student body, and the university’s committees are in open exchange with one another. In a constructive and communicative atmosphere, they work toward the realization of their shared goals.
Personnel development is important to Alanus University: equal opportunities, family friendliness, support for early-career academics, continuing education, and appropriate quality management are regarded as prerequisites for positive organizational development.
The development of the mission statement at Alanus University is a dynamic process that sees itself as an identity-forming, open concept for continuous development and quality improvement.
