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The Middle Ages of Europe is usually regarded as a “dark period” by many historians, but it is this dark period that gave birth to the university. The European university in Middle Ages, in terms of educational conception and curricula, inherited from both oriental and western civilization, especially ancient Greece, ancient Rome and Arabian world and characterized the early form of university.
Establishment of the University
The first institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, Spain and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology. ①These universities evolved from much older Christian cathedral schools and monastic schools, and it is difficult to define the date at which they became true universities. Universities were formalized when they were granted charters. The University of Bologna can trace its origins back to the late 11th century and received its charter in the 12th century.
Other early universities established in Europe include the University of Paris in France and Oxford in England. Before 1500 more than eighty universities were established in Western and Central Europe. During the subsequent Colonization of the Americas the university was introduced to the New World, marking the beginning of its worldwide spread as the center of higher learning everywhere.
Characteristics
②The university of the Middle Ages was not entirely unlike the modern institution that we are familiar with today, in that its ostensible goal was to train the next generation of young minds for a career — in this case, the church.
Initially the universities of the Middle Ages did not have physical facilities such as the campus of a modern university. Classes were taught wherever space was available, such as churches and homes. A university was not a physical space but a collection of individuals banded together as a universitas. Soon, however, some universities (such as Cambridge) began to rent, buy or construct buildings specifically for the purposes of teaching.
Universities were generally structured along three types, depending on who paid the teachers. The first type was in Bologna, where students hired and paid for the teachers. The second type was in Paris, where teachers were paid by the church. The third type, such as Oxford and Cambridge, was predominantly supported by the crown and the state. These structural differences created other characteristics. At the Bologna University the students ran everything — a fact that often put teachers under great pressure and disadvantage. In Paris, teachers ran the school; thus Paris became the premiere spot for teachers from all over Europe. In Bologna, where students chose more secular studies, the main subject was law. Latin was the language of instruction throughout the middle ages, and beyond.
Curriculum and Degree
University studies took six years for a Master of Arts degree (a Bachelor of Arts degree could be awarded along the way), which entitled a scholar to teach anywhere in Christendom. By the 13th century, almost half of the highest offices and over one-third of the second-highest offices in the Church were occupied by degreed masters. The studies for this were organized by the faculty of arts, where the seven liberal arts were taught: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar (the art of reading and writing, focusing on the psalms, other parts of the Bible, and the Latin classics), rhetoric and logic. The primary emphasis was on logic.
A popular textbook for university study was called the Sentences; theology students and masters were required to write extensive commentaries on this text as part of their curriculum. ③Once a Master of Arts degree had been conferred, the student could leave the university or pursue further studies in one of the higher faculties, law, medicine, or theology, the last one being the most prestigious.
④Courses were not elective: the course offerings were set, and everyone had to take the same courses. There were, however, occasional choices as to which teacher to use.
Social Life
The social life at the medieval university was also quite similar to today’s system. ⑤Their rules and regulations set up provisions against gambling, flamboyant dress, staying up to all hours, and associating with loose women. Students were afforded the legal protection of the clergy. In this way no one was allowed to physically harm them; they could only be tried for crimes in a church court, and were thus immune from any corporal punishment. This produced many abuses: theft, rape and murder were not uncommon among students. And as much as modern-day professors may complain, 21st-century students who stay up late drinking in pubs are doing no more than following the tradition established by their forebears.
Significance of the Universities during the Middle Ages
⑥ The development of universities during the Middle Ages provided and still provides an important center for scholarship and intellectual exchange. It has a profound influence on the modern university and the formation of prototype of higher educational system. The modern disciplines of the sciences are particularly deeply rooted within this academic hierarchy that was initially developed in the Middle Ages.
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內容簡介
《西方文化讀本》用英語編寫,力圖為學習者展現西方文化的概貌。編者在選材時盡量將曆史概述與具體故事、知識性和趣味性相結閤,調動學習者對閱讀的興趣,斯巴達的勇士、埃及艷後的故事、歌德的愛情、尼采的哲學等等,這些對於大部分學生來說曾是""道聽途說""來的模糊形象,都可以在這本書中找到清晰的介紹。為瞭適應課堂教學和語言操練的需要,作者在每篇選讀文章後都配備瞭適閤的練習。練習形式豐富多樣,使學生在閱讀之後可以通過練習來檢查和鞏固所學知識。
作者簡介
總主編:史寶輝, 北京林業大學外語學院院長、教授。主編:南宮梅芳、訾纓、白雪蓮,北京林業大學外語學院教授,開設"西方文化"課程多年。
目錄
目 錄
Unit 1 Ancient Greek Culture and Wisdom…1
Section A Greek Mythology…1
Section B City-States: Athens and Sparta…8
Section C Socrates …14
Unit 2 Roman Empire and Latin Culture…24
Section A History of Roman Empire…24
Section B All Roads Lead to Rome…30
Section C Cleopatra, the Egyptian Queen and Her Love Affairs…36
Unit 3 The Bible and Its History…46
Section A History of the Bible…46
Section B The Christmas Story of the Birth of Jesus…53
Section C Genesis…58
Unit 4 The Middle Ages and the Rise of Modern Europe…69
Section A The Middle Ages…69
Section B The Rise of the States…77
Section C The Rise of Universities in the Middle Ages…83
Unit 5 Renaissance and Church Reformation…95
Section A Renaissance…95
Section B The Reformation…102
Section C Henry VIII and His Six Wives…109
Unit 6 Enlightenment and the Origin of Modern Science…120
Section A The Age of Enlightenment…120
Section B On the Shoulders of Giants: Isaac Newton and Modern Science…127
Section C Francis Bacon: Fame and Disgrace…132
Unit 7 Romanticism and Realism…143
Section A Romanticism in Europe…143
Section B Romanticism in America…151
Section C Realism in Europe…157
Unit 8 Modernism and Contemporary Western Culture…172
Section A Modernism and Modernist Movement…172
Section B The Distinct Character of Contemporary American Culture …180
Section C How Contemporary American Society Tramples on Principles
of Integrity…187
Glossary…198
前言/序言
西方文化讀本(第二版) 下載 mobi epub pdf txt 電子書