What are Universities all about?

Towards a dialogue on the highest level of education

Authors

• Juha Tapio Himanka Tampereen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.73038

Abstract

Both the field of higher education and the role of the university in general have been among the targets of the rapid changes in the environment of modern academia in Finland. This study discusses these issues from the point of view of the transitions in the concept of university, which started with scholarly discussions on the idea of the university in Europe during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. From the idea, the concept evolved towards a functional understanding of the university. In the United States during the 20^th century, the discussion took up the transition from university to multiversity, that is, the transition from the aim of understanding university as a joint effort to seeing it as a collection of faculties and departments competing at least partially against one another. This study aims at promoting a dialogue on these issues within the entire academic community.