California State University Northridge - Sunburst Yearbook (Northridge, CA)

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Education, oddly enough, owes much to manhs unquenchable thirst for power. As societies were conquered their cultures invariably reshaped the war machines of the Egyp- tian, Assyrian, Greek, and Roman empires. The Dark Ages provided Europe an opportunity to re-evaluate its social, economic and religious institutions. Around the 14th Century a social and intellectual renaissance emerged, taking par- tial expression in the form of loosely organized and administered centers of learning.- Hitherto formal learning in Europe had been a strictly sanctioned function of mo- nastic orders. Behind cloistered walls, the works of Cicero, V irgil and the Bible were laboriously set forth in precise script. The completed manuscripts were then carefully rolled and placed in storage for future use by 00de chosen few. Renaissance Europe witnessed the rise of Guild schools and in the more densely populated urban areas, universities. The earliest of the latter was located in the bustling trade center of Bologna, Italy, a natural development in a city where for years the study of commercial law had been a major concern.

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Education as a process can not be entirely limited to classroom experiences, therefore, for our purpose, discussion will be restricted to that institutionalization of learning generally referred to as formal education. A further refinement will focus our attention on the development of higher education in the so-called western tradition. Only in this manner may we begin to view San F ernando V alley State College in perspective. A Mediaeval University. Lecture on Theology by AI- bertus Magnus H193- 1286L Permission granted by Ellis Monroe, author of A Brief Course in the His- tory of Education, New York, 1907.

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12th Century Europe might well be termed the age of universities for it was during this period, that the Universities of Paris, Oxford, and the aforementioned Bologna developed out of previously existing hhlowerg, schools.- Universities of the Middle Ages, like present day institutions, were distin- guished from other forms by their legal incorporation. The University of Bologna, which placed its corporate powers in the student body, servec't' as the pattern for later institutions arising in the southern countries. The charter of the University of Paris, vesting power in its faculty, served as the organizational format subsequently adopted by the countries of the north. It has been this organizational principle to which American institutions have ad- hered, as evidenced by the reading of the chartering acts for William and Mary, 1693 ; Harvard, 1636.; and Pennsylvania, 1755. By 1500, approximately eight universities were operating. The charters of these institutions provided for certain rights and privileges to be enjoyed by the university and its students. The most significant right granted the institution was the right of self-government. As a result, students became subject to the law of the university instead of civil law. This practice, though historically endorsed, has been modified in American institutions. The modern appendage representing this particular position is found in the establishment of a Dean of Studenfs Office. This position assumes a liaison for the interpreting of university h;law,, t0 stu- dents and in turn represents the student position in faculty sessions. In Germany, Martin Luther voiced a concern for a broader curricular base in the vernacular schools. By the mid 1500s the Reformation had burst the na- tional boundries of Germany and along with Luther, John Calvin was demanding a greater concern for more generalized learning. By the 17th Century an increased awareness of the importance of science gave rise to what was called an academy. Although F rench and German academies catered to royalty, those of England were patronized by the mercantile classes. For several years universities offered predominately a classical education to a highly restricted student body. In time the hcliberalism0 0f the academies was in- corporated into the curriculum of the university, so that by 1640, Harvard College advertised what is generally referred to as the ghseven liberal arts,,; i.e., grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. Library of the University of Leyden HblOL Permission Course in the History of Education, New York, 1907. granted by Ellis Monroe, OUfhor Of A Brief