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Uniwersytety europejskie na przełomie XVIII i XIX wieku

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Bartnicka K.

Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki

2015

vol. 60

issue 1

17-54

In the Age of Enlightenment, European universities were going through a serious economic, organizational, academic and staff crisis, and were affected by the resulting decrease of social prestige. The traditional profile of university education did not respond to the real needs of developing societies. The number of secondary and semi-tertiary education institutions was on the increase, taking candidates away from universities. Theology faculties’ control hindered free academic development and research at other faculties. Economic difficulties at universities hampered modernization of academic infrastructure, as well as introduction of new faculties. It resulted in deterioration of education and teaching staff level. Academic life began shifting towards academies of sciences and scientific societies, which were often financially supported by rulers. The crisis mostly affected universities in France, Germany, Italy, but also in Spain and England. It gave rise to a heated discussion about tertiary education, as well as about the purpose and raison d’être of universities. However, simultaneously with the deepening crisis at universities in central Europe, under the influence of the Enlightenment philosophical trends spreading throughout the whole of European academia and education, in some areas of the continent (the Low Countries, Scotland, Northern and Central European countries, including the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) the level and organization of academic life, openness to new ideas, curricula and education levels started to improve. It was most visible in the fields of jurisprudence and medicine, with botany beginning to stand apart as part of natural history. Philosophy faculties saw new chairs being introduced in humanities, natural sciences and exact sciences, and new subjects being introduced as extra-curricular activities. These changes accelerated towards the end of the 18th century. The turn of the 19th century was an exceptional period in the history of universities. The academic crisis had been overcome. New social, political, economic and academic circumstances in Europe, as well as the influence of the Enlightenment philosophical ideas gave rise to the concept of a liberal university, called ‘Humboldtian’ – a name derived from the university established in Berlin in 1810 thanks to Wilhelm von Humboldt. In the 19th century this concept conquered Europe. The academia recognized it as a classical idea for a university. It is based on: the principle of academic freedoms, freedom of scientific research and education; the idea of university’s mission as a combination of research goals: unhindered study of the world and discovery of scientific truth with educational and cultural impact on the university’s environment; the requirement for professors to combine research with teaching; separating universities as tertiary education institutions from secondary education institutions, as well as from vocational training-oriented tertiary education institutions. Modernization of European universities was progressing slowly, unevenly and non concurrently in different parts of the continent. Issues such as tertiary education, university structure, relations between university authorities with state and church authorities were tackled differently, depending on local needs and opportunities. Completely new universities were established as well, usually as institutions financed by the state, serving its purposes and under its supervision. The successful reform of Polish universities carried out by the Commission of National Education, following the ideas of Hugo Kołłątaj is a good example of the change tendencies at European universities in the second half of the 18th century. The Cracow Academy (established in1364) and the formerly Jesuit Vilnius Academy (established in 1568) were transformed into modern European universities. The Polish reform preceded the Humboldtian concept and the establishment of the Berlin University by two decades. During the reform of the Vilnius Academy transformed by the Commission of National Education into the Central School of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Jean Emmanuel Gilibert (1741-1812) was brought to Vilnius. He was a French botanist and doctor, born in Lyon and educated in Montpellier – one of the best medical and advanced botanical studies faculties in France. In Vilnius in the academic years 1781/82 and 1782/83, Gilibert chaired two departments:. He laid the foundations for a medical school which developed very well in the 19th century at the newly established college of medicine at the reformed Central School and for Lithuanian botanical research and studies at the new faculty in Vilnius.

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1 Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki

1 Bartnicka K.

1 2015

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Uniwersytety europejskie na przełomie XVIII i XIX wieku