The European and American university since 1800

by Sheldon Rothblatt

Universities are said to be the 'powerhouses' of modern society. They educate leaders, and advance our basic knowledge of nature and society. Yet historically they have been vulnerable when meeting the challenges of dynamic industrial democracies, let alone of modern totalitarian states. Today universities are at the centre of society's attention, and must therefore balance a great number of contradictory demands and pressures. Can this be done within the structure and ethos of an historic institution called a 'university', or are such institutions now passe and merely part of a...

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