The Idea of the University

This two-volume work will provide a wonderful resource for all who have an interest in the idea of the university. Through their careful selection of both historical and contemporary texts, and their own insightful commentaries, Michael Peters and Ronald Barnett take readers on a fascinating, thought-provoking intellectual journey. From the canonical musings of Kant, Humboldt and Newman to recent scholarship on neoliberalism, globalization and digital developments in higher education, The Idea of the University offers much for teachers and students, managers and administrators, and politicians and policy-makers to reflect on as they play their parts in creating the university of the future. —Peter Roberts, Professor of Education, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Michael A. Peters and Ronald Barnett have done the academic community a great service by collecting, in two handsome and well-structured volumes, a number of the most important contributions in thinking about the university, as well as providing illuminating and instructive directives for understanding the current relevance of the essays. These books should be required reading for anyone who cares about higher education in the present and the future. —Sharon Rider, Professor of Philosophy, Uppsala University