5 ms·
Wait, so is this the oldest university then? Because a quick Google says "The Jagiellonian University is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founde
by mettamage 4y ago
Wait, so is this the oldest university then?
Because a quick Google says "The Jagiellonian University is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in continuous operation in the world. It is regarded as Poland's most prestigious academic institution."
Ugh...
ChatGPT says "The University of Bologna, located in Bologna, Italy, is considered the oldest university in the world, founded in 1088. It was initially established as a law school, but over time, it grew to include faculties of medicine, philosophy, and theology. The university played a significant role in the development of European higher education, and its model of organization and academic freedom has been emulated by other universities around the world."
This seems to be a contentious topic.
- mtalantikite 4y agoThose sound like universities that are still in operation. Nalanda was destroyed about 800 years ago.
- jltsiren 4y agoIt depends on how you define a university. Medieval European universities are often considered the first true universities, because they are direct ancestors of modern universities, and their traditions have survived and evolved into what we see today. There were earlier institutes of higher education all around the world (including Europe), but those traditions have not survived.
- SeanLuke 4y ago> It depends on how you define a university. I think the institution that invented the term probably gets to define it. And that is the University of Bologna.
- Scarblac 4y agoSo what's their definition?
- SeanLuke 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- guelo 4y agoLanguage doesn't work that way.
- Towaway69 4y agoWon't that imply that "humans" didn't exist until the term "human" was invented?
- pasquinelli 4y agoa term defined is different from a thing existing.
- will_wright 4y agois it though?! "language is the house of being"
- Towaway69 4y agoA term by any other name would still smell as sweet as ... ;)
- lovemenot 4y agoThat might in fact be true. If we define humans as having a sufficiently sophisticated language, and using a term to reference one's entire species is characteristic of that, then at a stretch we could define the first human being as the child of proto-humans who first invented this linguistic concept.
- Towaway69 4y agoPoint taken :) What if "human" would be replaced by "ape"?
- lovemenot 4y agoSure. There are several similar arguments made in this thread. Such as, before the word "run" was first used, we could only walk quickly. The logic of these arguments is fine. I just noticed a way to nit-pick your implementation of it.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
- bradchris 4y agoSo what about Bachelor and Baccalaureate both being words that have their pre-Latin roots in Arabic: Bihaqq Al-riwayatt (“the right to restate the learning to somebody else“). Or the fact that ceremonial graduation garb in the EU and US, from the robes to the caps, is also based in Arab tradition. The medieval Enlightenment and subsequent Renaissance was huge for Europe, yes, but just as important to realize today is that a lot of it was taking heavy inspiration from other cultures and regions and “Europeanizing” it and then calling it their own (I.E. a cultural exchange)
- emmelaich 4y agoThat link you gave for Bihaqq Al-riwayatt was very interesting but not conclusive imho.
- Symbiote 4y ago> Or the fact Muslims are just as capable as Christians at promoting theories with very little evidence to support their arguments. Both of your assertions are unproven theories, with the evidence against them: bachelor originally meant a young knight who followed another (though the etymology before that is uncertain), and academic robes derive from similar (European) mediaeval clerical and secular clothing.
- bnralt 4y agoThere's a scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the father says that the etymology of all English words can be traced back to Greek[1]. When someone challenges him with the word "Kimono," he pauses for a second, and then concocts a semi-plausible sounding explanation about how the word evolved from a Greek word. A comedy, but I think it does reflect how a lot of people can be so impressed by their own culture that they end up spinning fictional narratives about it. For example, I was surprised to find that a common myth among Germans was that the USA almost had German become its official language, and German only lost out by a single vote. Pride in one's culture isn't a bad thing, but too much of it can definitely lead people to believe some very questionable claims. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXt0VCPKfQ4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXt0VCPKfQ4
- scythe 4y agoUsually the medieval European universities are distinguished by not being primarily religious institutions, although there have been objections to this definition. Otherwise, several older madrasas remain in operation, the oldest being the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco (847), which is listed as the world's oldest university by e.g. the Guinness Book of World Records: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_al-Qarawiyyin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_al-Qarawiyyin Surprisingly, there are some schools for adolescents in England which are even older, the oldest dating to 597: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King%27s_School,_Canterbury https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King%27s_School,_Canterbur... That the oldest continuously operating institutions in the world are mostly in England (schools), Japan (hotels) and the desert mountains of North Africa (madrasas and St. Catherine's Monastery) is likely a consequence of "splendid isolation". Nobody is quite sure how old the government of Haida Gwaii is.
- ghaff 4y agoContinuous operation is a key word--which indeed apparently applies the the University of Bologna--and according to Wikipedia it is the oldest continuously operating university. (It's apparently either 1088 or 1180-90 depending on your criteria--just a few years earlier than Oxford with the same criteria). ADDED: As others note "university" is also a key word though college would probably also serve.
- vishnugupta 4y agoYou may have gotten it confused it for a recently created university by the same name. Just putting it out there. https://nalandauniv.edu.in/ https://nalandauniv.edu.in/
- travist1000 4y agoAre we fixated on the word "University"? Irrespective of the word, it is the knowledge that was taught in those places.
- mettamage 4y agoSorry about that, it is indeed a bias I have
- pankajdoharey 4y agoCertainly this was a University, even metallurgy lab has been found in Nalanda. Many chinese Scholars use to come to Nalanda and Study, we know this because of their notes and their day to day life in the university. Xuanzang lived in Nalanda for about 15 yrs and studies and he noted a lot of things in his notes. He even explains about Brushing the teeth and morning cleansing rituals. Like how too do bowel and clean the hands. How to use the toilet etc. And when he returned he took bak 10000 Books back with him.