Abstract

FISCHMAN, Gustavo E. Public Universities in the 21st Century - Great Expectations, Some Promises and A Lot Of Uncertainty. univ.humanist. [online]. 2008, n.66, pp.239-270. ISSN 0120-4807.

This essay analyzes the notion of "crisis" among Public Research Universities (PRUs) across different eras and national cultures. To clarify the contemporary state of the PRU and its critics, the history of PRUs is examined, both as a model and an ideal that crystallized in the middle of the twentieth century-and then seemingly began to falter. Next, this essay explores whether the demands made to PRUs reflect a "crisis" of its functionality or its identity, and concludes by asking whether the real or perceived crisis is in fact about public universities per se or about the state of public institutions more broadly.

Keywords : Universities; crisis; notion of "public".

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