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A. Historical background Introduction Institutions of higher learning trace their roots as early as the third century C.E., with some features surviving up to the present day, while others developing rather more recently. This paper provides a brief summary of the origins and development of such institutions, and with them the evolution of academic freedom and related university values. As noted, all regions of the world have made important contributions, each worthy of further examination beyond the scope of this introduction. A list of further reading is provided for those wishing to examine this history in more detail. Asia As one of the earliest and most heavily inhabited regions, Asia has had many ancient institutions of higher learning. Nanjing University in China was an imperial school dating back as far as 258 CE.[1] China also had many private academies. Similar in origin and evolution to the medieval universities of Europe, these functioned initially as libraries and later as research institutes and training academies.[2] Other countries with ancient learning traditions include India and Vietnam. In Inida, Nalanda was an established centre of learning from the 5th to the 12th century. At its peak, two thousand teachers and ten thousand students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied at Nalanda.[3] Vietnam also boasts examples of ancient centers of learning. Van Mieu in Hanoi was founded in 1070 as a Confucian temple, followed shortly after in 1076 by Vietnam’s first university, the Quoc Tu Giam or National University.[4] Africa Africa has had institutions of higher learning for centuries, including those indigenous, Islamic and, later, Western origins. The earliest recorded universities appear in the northern part of the continent, most notably in Egypt and Morocco. The University of Al-Karaouine was established in Fez in 859 and is considered one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world.[5] It played a leading role in relations between the Islamic world and Europe in the Middle Ages.[6] Al-Azhar University in Egypt, connected to Al-Azhar mosque, was founded in 969/970 and quickly became a preeminent seat of Arabic-Islamic learning.[7] In those places that possessed institutions of higher learning, the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake was a recognised good, at least before the colonial and post-colonial periods substituted “utilitarianism” and “development,” respectively, as primary purposes, with negative consequences for the state and the evolution of universities.[8] Middle East Early institutions in the Middle East took a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from madrasas, khans, mosques and academies. In Iran the Academy of Gundishapur was established in the 6th and 7th centuries as an important medical center, giving training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science.[9] Elsewhere ‘nizamiyyah institutes’ were among the earliest organised centers of higher learning. Madrasa Nizamiyyah was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1067 and primarily taught law.[10] In the 13th century Al-Mustansiriyah was established, also in Iraq, eventually adding medicine, mathematics and other subjects to an originally theological focus.[11] Europe While borrowing from many regions and traditions, modern understandings of academic freedom and university autonomy have their deepest roots in the European university model. The University of Bologna, established in 1088 and considered the oldest university in Europe in continuous operation, was organised around autonomous guilds of students and masters. The University of Paris, established in 1150, similarly organised with largely self-governing faculties or departments that were, much like modern universities, often in tension with a chancellor or central authority.[12] These early ideas of an autonomy and self-governance have endured. Similarly, the Renaissance opened space for new methods and avenues and of inquiry, including in time scientific inquiry in the modern sense. Still obstacles to inquiry remained including famously in the early 16th century when Martin Luther, a minister and professor in Wittenberg, Germany, clashed with church authority, and in the early 17th century, when Galileo’s scientific ‘truth’ of a heliocentric solar system brought him before the Inquisition.[13] But by the 18th century the Enlightenment was fully established, encouraging intellectual activity along a rationalist, scientific line. Democracy and freedom were much emphasised, further loosening the control of Church and State on inquiry. The early Industrial Revolution further fuelled moderisation of higher education, with universities challenged to keep up with new technological and scientific developments and society’s needs to understand and harness them.[14] Perhaps most successful at meeting these challenges, the innovations of the Humboldtian research university in early 19th century Germany altered the way academia operated forever. These included formalising the ideas of Lehrfreiheit and Lernfreiheit, the freedom to teach and learn, to remove all restrictions on academics in the classroom and laboratory.[15] These freedoms however were neither complete—they did not reach to expression outside of the classroom and laboratory—nor sacrosanct--as academics across Europe suffered repeated persecutions throughout the 20th century, with notable purges after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and under the Nazi Third Reich in Germany and other fascist dictatorships in Italy, Spain, Greece and beyond. North America In the late 19th century North American institutions were greatly influenced by the development of the European research university, leading to an expansion both in numbers of higher education institutions and in understandings of academic freedom. Early in the 20th century the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) formalised understandings of academic freedom and institutional governance, including establishing tenure as a protection for academic freedom and eventually extending the scope of this freedom beyond merely classroom and research content to include some protection of academics expression outside of the university, even on subjects outside of the professor’s academic expertise. This recognised academics as valuable social contributors, affording them special protections to encourage the dissemination of their views.[16] Still, these principles were too often violated, such as in the United States during the McCarthy era when academics were investigated and improperly discharged from their positions for political reasons. Latin America Latin American universities were also influenced by European models, in particular the Spanish and French. The first higher education institutions appeared in Santa Domingo in 1538 and in Mexico and Peru in 1551.[17] The metropolitan model imported from Spain, based upon the University of Salamanca, required the participation of students in university governance. Later the Cordoba Reform of 1918 presented new thinking about how universities should be operated, including self-governance by members of the community elected by their peers, without government interference.[18] The Cordoba movement was ambitious in scope, laying the foundation for Latin America’s autonomous universities and an expanded vision of university autonomy that has spread widely. Conclusion The freedom and autonomy that academics and higher education institutions enjoy in most places today have their origins in many regions and traditions. This paper touches on briefly on those origins. Readers are encouraged to explore this rich history in more detail, especially as it relates to their own local history and traditions. But even this brief summary shows that expanded understanding and respect for academic freedom and related university values – including autonomy, accountability, access and social responsibility—are hallmarks of the expansion of quality, higher education that have fuelled remarkable progresses in human understanding, security and well-being. Further reading Bibliographies Aby, Stephen and Kuhn, James , Academic Freedom: A Guide to the Literature, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press (2000) Karran, Terrance, ‘Academic Freedom: A Research Bibliography,’ (22 Jan. 2009), available at Sinder, Janet, “Academic Freedom: A Bibliography,” Law and Contemporary Problems, 53(5): 381-392 (1990). Books and articles Altbach, Phillip, ‘Academic Freedom: International Realities and Challenges,’ in Higher Education Vol. 41 (2001), p. 205-219. Altbach, Phillip, ‘The Academic Profession,’ in International Higher Education: An Encyclopaedia, ed. by Philip Altbach (1991), p. 23-45. Altbach, Philip G., (ed.) (2000) The Changing Academic Workplace: Comparative Perspectives, Doumani, Beshara, (ed.) Academic Freedom after September 11, New York: Zone Books Karran, Terence, (2007) “Academic Freedom in Europe: A Preliminary Comparative Analysis”, Higher Education Policy, 20(3): 289-313. Karran, Terence, (2009) “Academic Freedom in Europe: Time for a Magna Charta?,” Higher Education Policy, 22 (2) (in press). Menand, Louis, (ed.) The Future of Academic Freedom, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Neave, Guy, (1996) “Academic Freedom and University Autonomy: An Abiding Concern”, Higher Education Policy, 9(4): 263-66. Neave, Guy, (ed.) The Universities’ Responsibilities to Society: International Perspectives, Oxford: Elsevier Science. Neave, Guy, (2002) “Academic freedom in an age of globalisation”, Higher Education Policy, O’Neil, Robert M., (2006) “Bias, Balance, and Beyond: New Threats to Academic Freedom”, O’Neil, Robert M., (2008) Academic Freedom in the Wired World: Political Extremism, Corporate Thorens, Justin, (2000) “Proposal for an International Declaration on Academic Freedom and Thorens, Justin, (2006) “Liberties, Freedom and Autonomy: A Few Reflections on Academia’s --------------------------------------------------------- Curriculum |
