In this book, John C. Moore surveys the history of universities, from their origin in the Middle Ages to the present. Universities have survived the disruptive power of the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific, French, and Industrial Revolutions, and the turmoil of two world warsand they have been exported to every continent through Western imperialism. Moore deftly tells this story in a series of chronological chapters, covering major developments such as the rise of literary humanism and the printing press, the Berlin model of universities as research institutions, the growing importance of science and technology, and the global wave of campus activism that rocked the twentieth century. Focusing on significant individuals and global contexts, he highlights how the university has absorbed influences without losing its central traditions. Today, Moore argues, as universities seek corporate solutions to twenty-first-century problems, we must renew our commitment to a higher education that produces not only technicians, but citizens.

Offers a pithy, accessible history of higher education in the West
Focuses on key figures and influences, covering the Middle Ages and early modern period through the twenty-first century
Highlights themes of continuity as well as change in the evolution of the university

Autorentext

John C. Moore is Professor Emeritus of History at Hofstra University, USA. He is the author of Love in Twelfth-Century France (1972) and Pope Innocent III (1160/1161-1216): To Root Up and to Plant (2003).

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Middle Ages: 5001500.- 3. The Early Modern Period: 15001789.- 4. The Nineteenth Century.- 5. The Twentieth Century.