Everything about Universities totally explained
A
university is an institution of
higher education and
research, which grants
academic degrees at all levels (
associate,
bachelor,
master, and
doctorate) in a variety of subjects. A university provides both
undergraduate education and
postgraduate education. The word
university is derived from the
Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning "community of teachers and
scholars".
History
Early history
The original Latin word "universitas", first used in time of renewed interest in Classical
Greek and
Roman tradition, tried to reflect this feature of the
Academy of Plato (established 385 BC). The term "academia" is sometimes extended to a number of educational institutions of non-Western antiquity, including
China,
India and
Persia:
The
University of Constantinople, founded as an institution of higher learning in
425 and reorganized as a corporation of students in
849 by the regent
Bardas of emperor
Michael III, is considered by some to be the earliest institution of higher learning with some of the characteristics we associate today with a university (research and teaching, auto-administration, academic independence, et cetera). If a university is defined as "an institution of higher learning" then it's preceded by several others, including the Academy that it was founded to compete with and eventually replaced. If the original meaning of the word is considered "a corporation of students" then this could be the first example of such an institution.
If the definition of a university is assumed to mean an institution of higher education and research which issues
academic degrees at all levels (
bachelor,
master and
doctorate) like in the modern sense of the word, then the medieval
Madrasahs known as
Jami'ah ("university" in
Arabic) founded in the 9th century would be the first examples of such an institution. Also in the 9th century,
Bimaristan medical schools were founded in the
medieval Islamic world, where medical degrees and
diplomas were issued to students of
Islamic medicine who were qualified to be a practicing
Doctor of Medicine.
Al-Azhar University, founded in
Cairo,
Egypt in 975, was a
Jami'ah university which offered a variety of post-graduate degrees (
Ijazah), for a theological
seminary,
Islamic law and
jurisprudence,
Arabic grammar,
Islamic astronomy,
early Islamic philosophy, and
logic in Islamic philosophy.
Medieval universities
The first higher education institution in
medieval Europe was the
University of Constantinople, followed by the
University of Salerno (9th century), the
Preslav Literary School and
Ohrid Literary School in the
Bulgarian Empire (9th century). The first degree-granting universities in Europe were the
University of Bologna (1088), the
University of Paris (c. 1150, later associated with the
Sorbonne), the
University of Oxford (1167), the
University of Cambridge (1209), the
University of Salamanca (1218), the
University of Montpellier (1220), the
University of Padua (1222), the
University of Naples Federico II (1224), and the
University of Toulouse (1229). Some scholars such as George Makdisi, and Hugh Goddard argue that these medieval universities were influenced in many ways by the medieval
Madrasah institutions in
Islamic Spain, the
Emirate of Sicily, and the Middle East (during the
Crusades).
The earliest universities in Western Europe were developed under the aegis of the
Catholic Church, usually as cathedral schools or by
papal bull as
Studia Generali (NB: The development of cathedral schools into Universities actually appears to be quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception - see Leff,
Paris and Oxford Universities), later they were also founded by Kings (
Charles University in Prague,
Jagiellonian University in Krakow) or municipal administrations (
University of Cologne,
University of Erfurt). In the early medieval period, most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools, usually when these schools were deemed to have become primarily sites of higher education. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries.
In Europe, young men proceeded to university when they'd completed their study of the
trivium–the preparatory arts of
grammar,
rhetoric, and
dialectic or
logic–and the
quadrivium:
arithmetic,
geometry,
music, and
astronomy. (See
Degrees of the University of Oxford for the history of how the trivium and quadrivium developed in relation to degrees, especially in
anglophone universities).
Outside of Europe, there were many notable institutions of learning throughout history. In
China, there was the famous
Hanlin Academy, established during the
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), and was once headed by the Chancellor
Shen Kuo (1031-1095), a famous Chinese scientist, inventor, mathematician, and statesman.
Modern universities
The end of the medieval period marked the beginning of the transformation of universities that would eventually result in the modern research university. Many external influences, such as eras of
humanism,
Enlightenment,
Reformation, and revolution, shaped research universities during their development.
By the 18th century, universities published their own
research journals, and by the 19th century, the German and the French university models had arisen. The German, or Humboldtian model, was conceived by
Wilhelm von Humboldt and based on
Friedrich Schleiermacher’s liberal ideas pertaining to the importance of
freedom,
seminars, and
laboratories in universities. The French university model involved strict discipline and control over every aspect of the university.
Universities concentrated on science in the 19th and 20th centuries, and they started to become accessible to the masses after 1914. Until the 19th century,
religion played a significant role in university curriculum; however, the role of religion in research universities decreased in the 19th century, and by the end of the 19th century, the German university model had spread around the world. The British also established universities worldwide, and
higher education became available to the masses not only in Europe. In a general sense, the basic structure and aims of universities have remained constant over the years.
Organization
Although each institution is differently organized, nearly all universities have a board of trustees; a president,
chancellor, or
rector; at least one vice president, vice-chancellor, or vice-rector; and deans of various divisions. Universities are generally divided into a number of academic departments, schools or
faculties.
Public university systems are ruled over by government-run higher education boards. They review financial requests and budget proposals and then allocate funds for each university in the system. They also approve new programs of instruction and cancel or make changes in existing programs. In addition, they plan for the further coordinated growth and development of the various institutions of higher education in the state or country. However, many public universities in the world have a considerable degree of financial, research and pedagogical autonomy.
Private universities are privately funded and generally have a broader independence from state policies.
Despite the variable policies, or cultural and economic standards available in different geographical locations create a tremendous disparity between universities around the world and even inside a country, the universities are usually among the foremost research and advanced training providers in every society. Most universities not only offer courses in subjects ranging from the
natural sciences,
engineering,
architecture or
medicine, to
sports sciences,
social sciences,
law or
humanities, they also offer many amenities to their student population including a variety of places to eat, banks, bookshops, print shops, job centres, and bars. In addition, universities have a range of facilities like
libraries, sports centers,
students' unions,
computer labs, and
research laboratories. In a number of countries, major classic universities usually have their own
botanical gardens,
astronomical observatories,
business incubators and
university hospitals.
Universities around the world
The funding and organisation of universities varies widely between different countries around the world. In some countries universities are predominantly funded by the state, while in others funding may come from donors or from fees which students attending the university must pay. In some countries the vast majority of students attend university in their local town, while in other countries universities attract students from all over the world, and may provide university accommodation for their students.
Classification
Across the world there are very differing standards of legal definition of the term "university" and formal accreditation of institutions. For example at one end of the scale there's no legal definition of the term in the United States. At the other, in the United Kingdom an institution can only use the term if it has been granted by the
Privy Council, under the terms of the
Further and Higher Education Act 1992.
In many regions of the world, a university is any institution of
higher education and
research which grants autonomously a range of
academic degrees in several fields, from
bachelor's degrees to
doctorate degrees, including
masters' degrees, as well as
honoris causa degrees and
agrégation/
habilitation diplomas in the places where these are used. Independently performed research conducted by universities includes both
fundamental research and
applied research.
Colloquial usage
Colloquially, the term
university may be used to describe a phase in one's life: "when I was at university…" (in the United States and Ireland,
college is used instead: "when I was in college..."). See the
college article for further discussion. In Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the
German speaking countries "university" is often contracted to "uni". In New Zealand and in South Africa it's sometimes called "varsity", which was also common usage in the UK in the 19th century.
Criticism
The Knowledge Factory,
Stanley Aronowitz argues that the American university has been besieged by growing unemployment issues, the pressures of big business on the land grant university, as well as the political passivity and ivory tower naivety of American academics.
In a somewhat more theoretical vein, the late
Bill Readings contends in his 1995 study
The University in Ruins that the university around the world has been hopelessly commodified by globalization and the bureaucratic non-value of "excellence." His view is that the university will continue to linger on as an increasingly consumerist, ruined institution until or unless society is able to conceive of advanced education in transnational ways that can move beyond both the national subject and the corporate enterprise.
Moreover, the
social sciences, while studied by approximately 30% of the population, were previously pursued by only 3% or less. This means the bulk of
arts and
humanities degrees don't necessarily lead to improved access to
employment opportunities.
David Graeber in his 2004 study
Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology claimed that the university functions as a hierarchical disciplining device that places graduates in
state and
corporate bureaucracies.
Richard Vedder, an
Ohio University professor and member of the
Commission on the Future of Higher Education, has been a vocal critic of how institutions of higher education, including the universities, are financed. In his 2004 book, "Going Broke by Degree," Vedder says that tuition increases have rapidly outpaced inflation; that productivity in higher education has fallen or remained stagnant; and that third-party tuition payments from government or private sources have insulated students from bearing the full cost of their education, allowing costs to rise more rapidly.
Cost
» See also:
Tuition
Although not a factor in the early sense of a university, a typical modern higher education institution is fee-charging. The amount it takes to attend a university varies from country to country. Often, a student must find some form of
financial aid to afford the costs of attending a university.
Under pressure
In some countries, in some political systems, universities are controlled by political and/or religious authorities, who forbid certain fields and/or impose certain other fields. Sometimes national or racial limitations exist - for students, staff, research.
Nazi universities
Books from university libraries, written by anti-Nazi or Jewish authors, were burned in places (
for example,
in Berlin) in 1933, and the curricula were subsequently modified. Jewish professors and students were expelled according to the
racial policy of Nazi Germany, see also the
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.
Martin Heidegger became the rector of
Freiburg University, where he delivered a number of Nazi speeches. On August 21, 1933 Heidegger established the Führer-principle at the university, later he was appointed Führer of Freiburg University.
University of Poznań was closed by the Nazi Occupation in 1939. 1941–1944 a German university worked there.
University of Strasbourg was transferred to
Clermont-Ferrand and Reichsuniversität Straßburg existed 1941–1944
(External Link
).
Nazi universities ended in 1945.
Soviet universities
Soviet type universities existed in the
Soviet Union and in other countries of the
Eastern Bloc.
Medical, technical, economical, technological and arts faculties were frequently separated from universities (compare the
List of institutions of higher learning in Russia). Soviet ideology was taught divided into three disciplines:
Scientific Communism,
Marxism-Leninism and Communist
Political Economy, and was introduced as part of many courses, eg. teaching
Karl Marx' or
Vladimir Lenin's views on energy or history.
Sciences were generally tolerated, but the
humanities curbed. In 1922, the Bolshevik government expelled some 160 prominent intellectuals on the
Philosophers' ship, later some professors and students were killed or worked in
Gulag camps. Communist economy was preferred, liberal ideas criticized or ignored.
Genetics was degradated to
Lysenkoism from the middle of the 1930s to the middle of the 1960s. Communist parties controlled or influenced universities. The leading university was the
Moscow State University. After
Joseph Stalin's death, universities in some Communist countries obtained more freedom. The
Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University provided higher education as well as a training ground for young communists from
developing countries.
Gallery
Image:Universityofbath indoor tennis courts arp.jpg|Indoor tennis courts, University of Bath, Somerset, England
Image:Universidade Federal do Parana 4 Curitiba Parana.jpg|Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
Image:CIAP Building ITESM.jpg|CIAP building, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Monterrey, Mexico
Image:Itu_ydy.jpg|Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Image:FlTechMillerBldgCLOSE.jpg|The Miller Building, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida, US
Image:Sherman Hall.jpg|Sherman Hall, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, US
Image:Mandeville.jpg|Mandeville Hall, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
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