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University

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Education

   Representation of a university class, 1350s.
   Representation of a university class, 1350s.

   A university is an institution of higher education and research, which
   grants academic degrees at all levels ( bachelor, master, and
   doctorate) in a variety of subjects. A university provides both
   tertiary and quaternary education. The word university is derived from
   the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning
   "community of masters and scholars".

History

The first "universities"

   The tower of the University of Coimbra, the oldest Portuguese
   university.
   The tower of the University of Coimbra, the oldest Portuguese
   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.
   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.

   Relative to the above definition, there is controversy as to which
   university is the world's oldest. 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. If we consider university simply as a higher education
   institution, then it could be Shang Hsiang, founded before the 21^st
   century BC in China according to legend. Later Taixue and Guozijian
   serve as the highest level of educational etablishment while academies
   became very popular as non-governmental etablishments teaching
   Confucianism and Chinese literature among other things. The choice for
   the oldest university is usually among Nalanda, Constantinople, Al
   Karaouine or Al-Azhar universities. Nalanda University, founded in
   Bihar, India around the 5th century BC conferred academic degree titles
   to its graduates, while also offering post-graduate courses. Another
   Indian university whose ruins were only recently excavated was
   Ratnagiri University in Orissa. Al-Azhar University, founded in Cairo,
   Egypt in the 10th century, offered a variety of post-graduate degrees,
   and is often regarded as the first full-fledged university. The
   University of Constantinople, founded in 849, by the regent Bardas of
   emperor Michail III, is generally considered the first institution of
   higher learning with the characteristics we associate today with a
   university (research and teaching, auto-administration, academic
   independence, et cetera). The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes
   the University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco as the oldest university
   in the world with its founding in 859.

Medieval European universities

   The first European medieval university was the University of Magnaura
   in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), founded in 849 by the regent
   Bardas of emperor Michael III, followed by the University of Preslav
   and University of Ohrid (9th century) in the Bulgarian Empire, founded
   by Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria, the University of Salerno (9th century),
   University of Bologna (1088) in Bologna, Italy, the University of Paris
   (c. 1100) in Paris, France, later associated with the Sorbonne, and the
   University of Oxford (11th century) in England. Many of the medieval
   universities in Western Europe were born under the aegis of the Roman
   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). 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).

Emergence of 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, and the discovery of the New
   World in 1492 added human rights and international law to the
   university curriculum.

   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

   Brooks Hall, home of the Terry College of Business at the University of
   Georgia in Athens, Georgia
   Brooks Hall, home of the Terry College of Business at the University of
   Georgia in Athens, Georgia

   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 having generally 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 administration, 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, most major
   universities have their own libraries, sports centers, restaurants,
   students' unions, botanical gardens, astronomical observatories,
   university hospitals and clinics, computer labs, research laboratories,
   business incubators and many other.

Universities around the world

   The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university.
   The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university.

   The funding and organization of universities is very different in
   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.

Universities and student life in different countries

   See also: List of colleges and universities by country.
     * Afghan universities
     * Albanian universities
     * Argentine universities
     * Australian universities
     * Bangladeshi universities
     * Belgian universities
     * Belizean universities
     * Bosnian universities
     * Brazilian universities
     * British universities
     * Bulgarian universities
     * Cambodian universities
     * Cameroon universities
     * Canadian universities
     * Chilean Universities
     * Chinese universities
     * Colombian universities
     * Croatian universities
     * Danish universities
     * Dutch universities
     * Egyptian universities
     * French universities
     * German universities
     * Greek universities
     * Hong Kong universities
     * Hungarian universities
     * Indian universities
     * Iranian universities
     * Iraqi universities
     * Irish universities
     * Israeli universities
     * Italian universities
     * Japanese universities
     * Jordanian universities

                                 * Kenyan universities
                                 * Lebanese universities
                                 * South Korean universities
                                 * Macedonian universities
                                 * Malaysian universities
                                 * Mexican universities
                                 * Montenegrin universities
                                 * Moroccan universities
                                 * New Zealand universities
                                 * Nicaraguan universities
                                 * Nigerian universities
                                 * Norwegian universities
                                 * Pakistani universities
                                 * Palestinian universities
                                 * Peruvian universities
                                 * Philippine universities
                                 * Polish universities
                                 * Portuguese universities
                                 * Romanian universities
                                 * Russian universities
                                 * Serbian universities
                                 * Singaporean universities
                                 * Sri Lankan universities
                                 * Slovenian universities
                                 * South African universities
                                 * Spanish universities
                                 * Swedish universities
                                 * Swiss universities
                                 * Syrian universities
                                 * Taiwanese universities
                                 * Thai universities
                                 * Uruguayan universities
                                 * Turkish universities
                                 * U.K. universities
                                 * U.S. universities

Classification in the United States

   Front entrance to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
   Front entrance to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

   In the United States, there is no legal definition of the term
   "university." The usual practice in the United States today is to call
   an institution made up of undergraduate students a " college." This can
   be a two-year community college, which grants an AA or a four-year
   college, such as a liberal arts college, which grants a B.A.. An
   institution which is comprised of both undergraduate and graduate
   students (and often of several schools) is called a university. Some
   schools such as Boston College, Dartmouth College, and College of
   William and Mary, which offer a number of graduate programs, have
   retained the term "college" in their names for historical reasons.
   Similarly, some institutions granting few if any graduate degrees may
   be called universities for historical reasons. Another criterion used
   to distinguish between a college and a university in the United States
   is the balance of teaching and research that occurs in the institution.
   Colleges have historically focused on teaching and universities on
   scholarship and research.
   Sherman Hall at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois.
   Sherman Hall at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois.

   The Carnegie Basic Classification system distinguishes among
   institutions on the basis of the prevalence of degrees they grant.
   Formerly designated by Roman numerals, their current and past
   classification system uses the following names to designate
   institutions of higher education: Research I universities,
   Doctorate-granting Universities, Master’s Colleges and Universities,
   Baccalaureate Colleges, Associate’s Colleges, Special Focus
   Institutions, and Tribal Colleges, with subdivisions in some of the
   categories. As the category names indicate, the Carnegie Foundation
   considers the granting of master's degrees a prerequisite for an
   institution being classified as a university.

Admissions

   Admission systems and university structures vary widely around the
   world (see college admissions). Differences are marked in countries
   where universities fulfill the role of community colleges in the United
   States and Europe.

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 the
   Republic of 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.
   Moscow State University at Sparrow Hills is the largest educational
   building in the world.
   Moscow State University at Sparrow Hills is the largest educational
   building in the world.

Criticism

   In his study of the American university since World War II, 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 naivete 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 we are able to conceive of advanced
   education in transnational ways that can move beyond both the national
   subject and the corporate enterprise.

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 ( eg. 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.

   Nazi universities ended in 1945.

Soviet universities

   Soviet type universities existed in Soviet Union and in other countries
   of the Eastern Bloc. Medical, technical, economical, technological and
   artistical faculties were 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 (mostly in form of 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. 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. Patrice Lumumba
   Peoples' Friendship University provided higher education as well as a
   KGB training ground for young communists from developing countries.

Related terms

          academia - academic rank - academy - admission - alumnus - aula
          - polytechnic - Brain farm - Bologna process - business schools
          - Grandes écoles - campus - college - college and university
          rankings - dean - degree - diploma - discipline - dissertation -
          faculty - fraternities and sororities - graduate student -
          graduation - Ivory Tower - lecturer - medieval university -
          medieval university (Asia) - mega university - perpetual student
          - professor - provost - rector - research - scholar - senioritis
          - student - tenure - Town and Gown - tuition - undergraduate -
          universal access - university administration

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