ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discusses in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores questions about the changing role of a university and its relationship with the broader society in which is located. It discusses the core missions of higher education: teaching, research and service and more recent notions of a university as an 'anchor' institution with the potential for significant impact on its local community. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of existing literature on the relationship between higher education and conflict including a discussion of the 'two faces' of higher education in conflict as both a negative and positive force. It also discusses the different roles that Queen's University Belfast has taken across several decades of the Troubles in Ireland, initially as providing a safe or 'neutral' space and latterly as a centre of expertise in dealing with the legacy of violence.
