John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University

Michael Lanford (University of North Georgia)
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The Idea of a University 

by John Henry Newman is a collection of two books, derived from a variety of source materials, that are famous for their interrogation of three primary themes pertaining to university life: 1) the nature of knowledge; 2) the role of religious belief in higher education; and 3) a defense of liberal education for university students (Tierney, 2016). The date of publication for 

The Idea 

is frequently listed as 1852, the year in which Newman first presented five lectures to a Dublin audience from 10 May to 7 June (McMannus, 1994). Those lectures, along with five others that were never publicly read, were immediately published under the title 

Discourses on the Scope and Nature of University Education: Addressed to the Catholics of Dublin

. In total, ten…

3126 words

Citation: Lanford, Michael. "The Idea of a University". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 April 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=552, accessed 22 November 2024.]

552 The Idea of a University 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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