Science, Tradition and Scholarship: Restoring Trust to Higher Learning in Iceland

In this paper I argue that the academic culture, politics and the organization of the University of Iceland has been characterized by three cultures that I label as the literary, the civic, and the Humboldtian traditions. These traditions have mixed with new ideologies and social movements, vast soc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tímarit um viðskipti og efnahagsmál
Main Author: Þórlindsson, Þórólfur
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Institute of Business Research 2008
Subjects:
H83
I21
I23
L32
Z19
Online Access:http://www.efnahagsmal.is/article/view/a.2008.6.2.3
https://doi.org/10.24122/tve.a.2008.6.2.3
Description
Summary:In this paper I argue that the academic culture, politics and the organization of the University of Iceland has been characterized by three cultures that I label as the literary, the civic, and the Humboldtian traditions. These traditions have mixed with new ideologies and social movements, vast social and economic changes, and specific historical events in shaping the University. I speculate about the role of the ‘68 movement, as a critical element in this complex development as well as the efforts of Rector Gudmundur K. Magnusson to restore credibility and trust in the University of Iceland during the 1980s. I acknowledge that this is a first report on an ongoing project. The views presented in this paper should therefore be considered as tentative and hypothetical.