The contemporary university is an uncomfortable amalgamation of ambitions once held by a variety of educational institutions. It owes debts to the philosophical schools of Ancient Greece and Rome, to the monasteries of the Middle Ages, to the theological colleges of Paris, Padua, and Bologna and to the research laboratories of early modern…

In this essay, a tribute to Jacques Derrida's educational efforts at expanding access to current work in philosophy, John Willinsky examines his efforts as both a public right and an element of academic freedom that bear on the open access movement today. Willinsky covers Derrida's extension and outreach work with the Groupe de Recherches pour…

French research in the social sciences and humanities may change, due to a restructuring of government policies. The 1981-82 National Symposium on Research and Technology led to recommendations for job security for researchers, democratization of research management, and increased flexibility of management procedures. (AM)

Suggests that the high dropout rate among first-year students in French universities is due in part to economic factors, which push some students into attending school when work is scarce. Differentiates between those who enter school to invest in the future and those who enter by default. (Contains 71 references.) (NB)