The idea of the university : a reexamination /

Not since Daniel Fallon's succinct but definitive study The German University (CH, Jun'81) has such an incisive and scholarly examination been made of the development, structure, and function of a university moved by the heroic romantic ideal and committed to liberal education. Reflecting on his personal experiences and drawing heavily upon John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated (CH, Feb'77), Pelikan (Yale), defines the university's contribution to society through its effectiveness in interpreting knowledge by teaching, developing it by research, and preserving it in libraries. First principles shaping the university are identified, including pursuing "knowledge for its own sake," maintaining the intellectual virtues of "free inquiry and intellectual honesty," promoting trust in "rationality and its processes," upholding "scholarly life," and tolerating diverse views without "sacrificing conviction." The university is viewed as a community of scholars who both "extend" knowledge as teachers and "advance" it as investigators. This is a well-written book with indexes, extensive references, and a comprehensive review of the literature in the field. It compares favorably with classics like R.M. Hutchings's The University of Utopia (1964) which promote an education for living through a liberal arts dominated curriculum of the university. Recommended for undergraduate and graduate students and general readers. F. X. Russo; University of Rhode Island

Pelikan ( The Christian Tradition ), professor of history at Yale, here conducts an ``ongoing dialogue with one book,'' John Henry Cardinal Newman's The Idea of a University . Written more than 150 years ago by the towering 19th century thinker whose efforts to establish a Catholic university in Dublin were cruelly frustrated, Newman's book offers illuminating parallels to, and contrasts, current university crises, and Pelikan draws attention to these in the present work. He adheres to the format of Newman's discourses, embracing their theological as well as scholarly dimensions as he seeks to characterize the university's aims, functions, and place in society. He considers the interrelations of knowledge and utility, the conflict between ideology and pluralism and the need for community felt by teachers and students--concerns as pressing in Newman's day as they are now. Shaped by Pelikan's personal identification with Newman, whom he calls ``the most influential English-speaking theologian who ever lived,'' this reflective book should be required reading for shapers of the university, and will be a powerful stimulus for readers who wish to reacquaint themselves with Newman. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved