The Contemporary University: A Tradition That Creates the Future
The Contemporary University: A Tradition That Creates the Future

Summary/Abstract: Rejecting the frequently raised claim that the tradition of the university is on the decline, the author emphasizes the necessity of grounding the vision of the future of this institution on the reflection on its past. He discusses both historical and contemporary models of the university (e.g., the medieval corporation of scholars, the state-controlled university, the Humboldtian university, and the entrepreneurial university), pointing to the need to find a balance between maintaining academic traditions on the one hand, and, facing the political, economic, and cultural challenges of modernity, on the other; between the national state, which is gradually losing its sovereignty, and the global market. Drawing on the ideas of such authors as Jaroslav Pelikan, Bill Readings, Burton R. Clark, Michael Barber, Katelyn Donnelly, Saada Rizvi, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Martha Nussbaum, the author proposes considering the university as a tradition that creates its future by implementing its own cultural policy in defense of freedom.

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