Abstract
VARIETY OF TYPES OF UNIVERSITIES. ONE remark of a general kind must be made before proceeding to a synthesis of the purposes of universities. It is a platitude, yet not unimportant, to the effect that they will not be (and cannot be expected to be) uniform in character. Old universities have their traditions, sometimes the growth of centuries; and though they have to review their ideals from time to time and to revise their practice to meet the challenges and the demands made toy the growing needs of the nation, changes are made only gradually, and the main character tends to persist through the changes. On the other hand, new universities arise in response to new demands of diverse kinds, and their character is bound to be shaped by their origin, their circumstances, and their growth. In the later Middle Ages, the philosophy of the schoolmen yielded before the onset of the study of the humanities—a study which has largely determined the character of our oldest universities. The physical sciences, by their growth during the last century, have modified the range of education and have influenced profoundly some of the older universities, while they have had no small share in dominating the form of newer foundations. The needs of applied sciences and practical sciences in our own day are stirring ideals of education widely removed from those that reposed upon the humanities, and they are leading to the establishment of learne institutions of types hitherto unknown. Sometimes between one university and another, sometimes within the limits of a single university, there will be what is almost a struggle among the subjects in their historical assignment to courses of study. Fundamental questions are being asked. Should the study of modern languages displace that of the ancient languages? Will applied science diminish the attention paid to pure science? Will practical needs direct the study of applied science? Must the acquisition of so-called useless knowledge be renounced in favour of so-called useful knowledge? Can it still be possible to maintain the process of a liberal education in the presence of the demands -for technical instruction and commercial instruction? These and many othef questions will arise in practically every university. They must be answered when they arise, and the answers will vary, per-ohaps from time to time, certainly from body to body. Yef diversity of character, of circumstances, and of practice, will not exclude a certain community of spirit and a certain similarity of obligation.
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Universities: Their Aims, Duties, and Ideals 1 . Nature 69, 38–42 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/069038a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/069038a0