The Deep History of the University Susanne Lohmann University of California, Los Angeles

About eighty-five institutions in the Western world established by 1520 still exist in recognizable forms, with similar functions and with unbroken histories, including the Catholic Church, the Parliaments of Isle of Man, of Iceland, and of Great Britain, several Swiss cantons, and seventy universities. Kings that rule, feudal lords with vassals, and guilds with monopolies are all gone. Those seventy universities, however, are still in the same locations with some of the same buildings, with professors and students doing much the same things, and with governance carried on in much the same ways. Clark Kerr (1963) Don’t worry about me. I’m a survivor.

The Deep History Hypothesis Present-day assemblages of ecological traits among species can be explained with reference to structures that got locked in early on in evolutionary history The world is complex It takes a complex institution to see the world The medieval university was forged in conflict All of university history since then is but a footnote

Global Warming

Is it happening? Is it caused by human activity? Can we do something about it? Should we do something about it?

Deep specialization + Putting it together + Spilling it out + Who will pay the bill?

Convergence is about setting up the right social system so that advances in one area rapidly move into others. The nano is hard, the biology is hard, the cognitive stuff is hard but a new science of putting it together is really hard. James Spohrer (2003)

Deep specialization + Putting it together + Spilling it out + Who will pay the bill? = Information ecology + Governance structure + Business model

Deep Specialization Brainwash, select, and motivate scientists Protect scientists from each other Protect scientists from outside world Putting it together Encourage scientists to talk to each other Spilling it out Encourage scientists to talk to outside world Encourage outside world to learn from scientists Who will pay the bill? Fund public goods Fund university governance

Universitas, university, universiteti, université, universitat, universidade, universidad, universität, universitet, universiteit, univerzitet, univerzita, università, universitetas, universiti, universitatea, universitetet, uniwersytet, üniversitesi, lunivesite = the One, the totality, or the whole wide world = combination of parts to form a whole = society, corporation, or guild = self-governance and autonomy

Medieval university —Abelard’s Sic et Non —Scientific gift economy —Institutional diversity —University autonomy —Bottom-up governance —Federalist structures German research university —All departments of knowledge —Bundling of research and teaching —Deep specialization American land grant university —Service to the local community —Political accountability —Professional university administration —Institutional diversity