PaR in Continental Europe: A Site of Many Contests

Abstract

For some years now, and particularly since the Bologna Declaration of 1999, the key issue in continental European arts higher education is an obligation to become ‘academic’.¹ Ironically, since the classic representative institution of arts Higher Education has typically been called an ‘academy’, a pressing question concerns how academies should become ‘academic’. As distinct from universities, ‘academies’ refers here to all specialist institutions of arts higher education, whether they teach visual or fine arts, film, drama or music, and whether or not they are indeed titled ‘Academy’.