The Idea of the University Contemporary Perspectives

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

Ronald Barnett is Emeritus Professor of Higher Education, University College London Institute of Education. He has spent a lifetime in establishing the philosophy of higher education as a field, advancing original concepts and practical principles. His latest book is The Ecological University: A Feasible Utopia (2018).
Michael A. Peters is Professor in the Wilf Malcolm Institute for Educational Research at Waikato University, NZ, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He is also Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Sociology, BNU, China. He is Executive Editor of Educational Philosophy and Theory and founding editor of several other journals. His latest books are Wittgenstein and Education: Pedagogical Investigations (2017), with Jeff Stickney, and The Digital University: Manifesto and Dialogue (2017), with Petar Jandric.