The University: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

What is a university? How have universities and colleges evolved over the centuries? What will be the impact of digital- and distance-learning; of commercial for-profit new entrants to the higher education market; of government austerity; and of globalization on universities and colleges?

Exploring the origins and the concept of the university, this Very Short Introduction discusses one of the world's oldest, most resilient, and most adaptable institutions. Considering examples of universities and colleges across the world, David Palfreyman and Paul Temple discuss the issues facing the future of universities, and the questions surrounding the position and role of universities and colleges within society today.

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David Palfreyman is the Bursar and a Fellow of New College, University of Oxford. He is also Director of the Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies. David serves as the Honorary Treasurer of and as a Trustee of the Society for Research in Higher Education. He is a co-editor of the Routledge 25-volume series International Studies in Higher Education; and a Member of the Editorial Board of The World of Learning (Routledge). His publications include: Reshaping the University: The Rise of the Regulated Market in Higher Education (with T. Tapper, OUP, 2014); and The Law of Higher Education (with D. Farrington, OUP, 2012).

Paul Temple is Reader Emeritus in Higher Education at the UCL Institute of Education, London, where he was until recently Co-Director of its Centre for Higher Education. His research centers around issues of efficiency and effectiveness in higher education institutions, which has led him to study the physical form of universities and colleges, and how these may affect the academic work of the institutions. Before entering academic life, he worked in university and college planning and finance.