Unit information: The University in Western Europe and the USA since 1800 (Level I Special Field) in 2014/15

Unit name	The University in Western Europe and the USA since 1800 (Level I Special Field)
Unit code	HIST26028
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Wei
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Universities face an uncertain future. In response to competing demands, they claim that they can do everything and please everyone. The current financial crisis, however, is forcing them to make tough choices and they cannot please everyone. As different interest groups fight over reduced funding, the past is often invoked, revealing a superficial grasp of why universities have become what they are today; this at least we can put right.

We will explore the history of universities in Western Europe and North America since 1800. Key themes will include: different conceptions of the nature and purpose of universities; processes by which different types of university have been established; governance and internal power relations; who goes to university (race, class and gender); pedagogy and the student experience; funding systems; the political, social and economic roles of universities from local, national and transnational perspectives; representations in films, television programmes, and novels.

Aims:

• To place students in direct contact with the current research interests of the academic tutor

• To develop students' ability to work with primary sources

• To develop students' abilities to integrate primary source material into a wider historical analysis

• To develop students' ability to learn independently within a small-group context

• To introduce students to different conceptions of the nature and purpose of universities

• To develop students' understanding of the internal dynamics and social composition of universities in Western Europe and the USA since 1800

• To develop students' understanding of the political, social and economic roles of universities in Western Europe and the USA since 1800.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit students should have:

• become more experienced and competent in working with a widening range of primary sources

• become more adept at contributing to and learning from a small-group environment

• developed an understanding of different conceptions of the nature and purpose of universities

• developed an understanding of the internal dynamics and social composition of universities in Western Europe and the USA since 1800

• developed an understanding of the political, social and economic roles of universities in Western Europe and the USA since 1800

• become better equipped to engage in current debates about the future of universities.

Teaching Information

• Weekly 2-hour seminar

• Tutorial feedback on essay

• Access to tutorial consultation with unit tutor in office hours

Assessment Information

1 x 2 hour exam

Reading and References

R. Barnett, The Idea of Higher Education (Buckingham, 1990).

Wilhelm von Humboldt, ‘On the spirit and the organisational framework of intellectual organisations in Berlin’ in Minerva at http://www.springerlink.com/content/r2l315x804607m1r/fulltext.pdf

C. Kerr, The Uses of the University (Cambridge, Mass., 1963).

J.H. Newman, The Idea of a University (reprinted New Haven, 1996).

W. Rüegg, (ed.) A History of the University in Europe, vol. III: Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (1800-1945) (Cambridge, 2004).

L.R. Veysey, The Emergence of the American University (Chicago, 1965).