Changes

Universities today are a key component for modern states and economies, where the professional classes and academic research are fostered. We often rate societies by their abilities to produce scientific achievement and develop economic success where universities play a critical role in this. However, the history of universities was very different and these institutions were first relatively parochial and only in recent times have they become pervasive.

==Early Development==

Early institutions of higher learning existed long before universities were established. These early institutions conducted research and taught pupils, similar to our ideas of universities today. Early recordings from Egypt and Mesopotamia suggest there were not only scholars who conducted research but also these scholars likely taught and were affiliated with institutions of learning. The Ashurbanipal Library at Nineveh and Library at Sippar were collections of knowledge that likely also had students and teachers associated with them that taught a select group of individuals who not only learned the complex written languages of their day but also began to study and apply their knowledge. <ref>For more on learning in Mesopotamia and Egypt, see: Krebs, Robert E. 2004. Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries through the Ages. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.</ref>

The first institution that was more fully documented was the Platonic Academy (Figure 1), founded in 387 BCE, with Aristotle's Peripatetic school founded in 335 BCE having derived from Plato's Academy. These schools generally had a select few pupils and were not institutions for mass education.<ref>For more on the early Greek higher education institutions, see: Reale, Giovanni, John R. Catan, and Giovanni Reale. 1990. Plato and Aristotle. A History of Ancient Philosophy, Giovanni Reale ; 2. Albany, NY: State Univ. of New York Press, pg. 149.</ref> Perhaps one of the first truly international institutions of higher education was the Musaeum, an institutions that brought knowledge to it from around the known world. The Library of Alexandria was part of this institution and it served as a repository for knowledge not just from the Hellenistic world but also accumulated knowledge from Babylonia and Persia that had preceded Greek scholarship. The Musaeum largely functioned like an international university, where students would come to be educated by the best teachers. The Ptolemaic state was tolerant to scholarship and allowed individuals from many regions to come to Alexandria to be involved in this institution.<ref>For more on the Musaeum and Library at Alexandria, see: MacLeod, Roy M., ed. 2000. The Library of Alexandria: Centre of Learning in the Ancient World. London ; New York : New York: I.B. Tauris ; In the U.S.A. and Canada distributed by St. Martin’s Press.</ref>

In the ancient world, several regions developed traditions of scholarship. In the Indian subcontinent, Pushpagiri and Nalanda were two well known centers of higher education. These institutions were devoted to Buddhist teaching but also trained individuals in arts, medicine, mathematics, and astronomy. Even politics, or something comparable to political science, or political theory, was taught at these academies. Earlier Hindu higher learning cetnres, such as Taxilia, also inducted students. This place became associated with one of the earliest economic treatises known to us, a text call the Arthashastra, which also discussed other topics as well, such as political statecraft.<ref>For more on India's higher education ancient tradition, see: Mookerji, Radhakumud. 1989. Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.</ref>

==Early Universities==

The first true university, that is an institution called as such, was founded in Bologna, Italy in 1088. The Latin phrase <i>universitas magistrorum et scholarium</i> indicated an association of teachers and scholars. As this early date, universities were more of an association or a guild for learning particular crafts. In the case of Bologna, the focus was law. The emphasis was on training students for more developed skills within a particular profession so that they can serve and develop those skills at more professional levels. Oxford, the second oldest university and oldest English speaking university, was founded probably sometime late in the 11th century. Traditions such as having a chancellor and residence halls had become established by the 13th century. Oxford had established its oldest colleges, Balliol and Merton Colleges, by the mid 13th century (Figure 2).<ref>For more on the early universities, see: Ridder-Symoens, Hilde de, ed. 1992. Universities in the Middle Ages. A History of the University in Europe, v. 1. Cambridge [England] ; New York: Cambridge University Press.</ref>

A key development occurred in the founding of the University of Naples, founded in 1224, as it was founded as a public institution dedicated by a king rather than the pope or Catholic church. Some see this as the beginning of developing the concept of secular education, although virtually all higher education institutions had religious curriculum as part of their broader education. In Germany, where many cities developed very independent traditions, we see municipalities and municipal government being active in the founding of universities. This is the case with the University of Cologne, founded in 1388.<ref>For more on the development of public universities, see: Nicholas, David. 1992. The Evolution of the Medieval World: Society, Government, and Thought in Europe, 312-1500. London ; New York: Longman.</ref>

==The Modern University==

==References==