This article provides a panoramic analysis of the historical process of the emergence of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and their role as mediators of medieval knowledge, which later also exerted significant influence as they reshaped themselves for the consolidation of national states and modern Western scientific culture. In Brazil, unlike…

This project is a study of the role interpretation has played during a few key moments in a culture war over the role of the university in society. It argues that in these key moments in which a political reflection has been undertaken regarding the way knowledge is produced and distributed, the nature and function of interpretation as such has…

This study examines the emergence and evolution of madrasa as a specific organizational form of higher learning from a comparative-historical perspective. The article begins by discussing how the madrasa emerged and which factors contributed to its rise and spread among the Islamicate political regimes during the Middle Ages and afterwards. Then,…

Today, the term 'global' has become a pervasive description of universities that aim to alleviate their importance and reach. The global looks inherently big. By relating to a spherical shape it attributes size in two distinct ways: it signifies the comprehensive and extensive reach of a theme or issue as well as the spherical centrality of an…

As the institution of university has evolved into a highly diverse educational community, the language of communication (or linguistic capital) in higher education plays a vital role. Therefore, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) became the dominant characteristic of academia in many parts of a (globalized) world. This growing influence of…

This article explores the origins of researcher development in British universities. Its principal aim is to provide a coherent, and reasonably succinct, account of the evolution and development of researcher development that is as consistent as possible with what is known about the development of the Western university, the history of the…

This article explores the historical importance of argument and self-learning within the structure of liberal arts education and how these can be applied to the design of university and community college general education classes to help students develop skills in effective communication, critical thinking and self-learning. Research in classical…

Over the centuries, universities have functioned as gatekeepers and treasurers of received knowledge, while concomitantly furthering innovative contributions to society. Yet, when cultivating research "silos", universities encourage scholars to explore in seeming isolation. Out of such tensions, universities have supported, and will…

When universities began in the Middle Ages, Pope Gregory IX described them as "wisdom's special workshop." He could not have foreseen how far these institutions would travel and develop. Tracing the eight-hundred-year evolution of the elite research university from its roots in medieval Europe to its remarkable incarnation today,…

Not only in education, but also in other social practices, the history of "internationalisation" is correlative to the history of "nationalisation". In this broad sense, this article outlines four main constellations of the links between education and nationalisation/internationalisation dynamics. After a brief description of…

This paper contributes to the discussion about the marketisation of universities by providing a historical perspective. Going back to the time when the market for academic knowledge emerged, I argue that it was created through incorporating a number of inherent tensions that have been, and still are, shaping its development. I show how these…

In February 2013, the University of Leicester staged what The Guardian described as "The most extraordinary press conference ever held at any UK university." This was part of a media and communications campaign that brought worldwide attention to the discovery of King Richard III by the University's archaeologists. How do you manage a…

We present new data documenting medieval Europe's "Commercial Revolution'' using information on the establishment of markets in Germany. We use these data to test whether medieval universities played a causal role in expanding economic activity, examining the foundation of Germany's first universities after 1386 following the Papal Schism. We…

How the dominance of the two medieval universities, namely, (1) The University of Oxford; and (2) The University of Cambridge, was gained and maintained is the subject of the institutional histories by Gillian Evans. She has long been a thorn in the side of successive Cambridge Vice-Chancellors' aspirations to turn that institution--at which she…

This article offers an answer to the question: What goals have persisted across all the stages of the development of the Western university? The main conclusion is that the following three goals have been the common threads: the higher education of students, the advancement of knowledge, and service to those outside the walls of the university.…