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University
Degree ceremony at the University of Oxford. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor in MA gown and hood, Proctor in official dress and new Doctors of Philosophy in scarlet full dress. Behind them, a bedel, another Doctor and Bachelors of Arts and Medicine. A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees 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".[1]
HistoryEarly history
Representation of a university class in the 1350s
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 is 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.[4] 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.[5][6] The University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco is thus recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university in the world with its founding in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri.[7] 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.[6][8] Al-Azhar University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in 975, was a Jami'ah university which offered a variety of post-graduate degrees (Ijazah),[6] and had individual faculties[9] for a theological seminary, Islamic law and jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, early Islamic philosophy, and logic in Islamic philosophy.[6] Medieval universities
The University of Salamanca in Spain, founded 1218 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 had 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 tower of the University of Coimbra, the oldest Portuguese university 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. 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. Universities concentrated on science in the 19th and 20th centuries and become increasingly accessible to the masses. In Britain the move from industrial revolution to modernity saw the arrival of new civic universities with an emphasis on science and engineering. 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
The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university. 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 worldThe 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.[14]Classification
Brooks Hall, home of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, US Across the world there are very differing standards of legal definition of the term "university" and formal accreditation of institutions. For example, there is no legal definition of the term in the United States although the term is used in classification schemes such as that used by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In the United Kingdom, however, 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.[15] 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 usageColloquially, 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 is sometimes called "varsity", which was also common usage in the UK in the 19th century. CriticismDavid 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.[16] 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.[17] CostA 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 pressureIn some countries, in some political systems, universities are controlled by political or religious authorities who forbid certain fields of study or impose certain other fields. Sometimes national or racial limitations exist in the students that can be admitted, the faculty and staff that can be employed, and the research that can be conducted. Nazi universitiesBooks from university libraries, written by anti-Nazi or Jewish authors, were burned in places (e.g., 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 Pozna? 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 http://edoc.mpg.de/46786. Nazi universities ended in 1945. Soviet universities
Moscow State University at Sparrow Hills is the largest educational building in the world. Gallery<gallery> Image:Universityofbath indoor tennis courts arp.jpg| 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:BirminghamUniversityChancellorsCourt.jpg| The Aston Webb building, University of Birmingham, UK Image:Sherman Hall.jpg|Sherman Hall, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, US Image:Mandeville.jpg|Mandeville Hall, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US Image:Old College Main Entrance.jpg|Old College at Aberystwyth University. Established in 1872, it is one of the oldest intitutes of higher education In Wales. Image:University of Edinburgh, Old College.jpg|Old College, a building of the University of Edinburgh, one of the oldest universities in the United Kingdom </gallery> See also
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