A university is an institution dedicated to higher education.
The university is an institution of higher education made up of various faculties and which grants different academic degrees. These institutions may include, in addition to faculties, different departments, colleges , research centers and other entities.
The concept, which comes from the Latin universĭtas , can refer to both the institution and the building or group of buildings that are used as chairs. For example: "When I finish high school, I'm going to go to university to study medicine," "The public university is the most prestigious in the country," "I couldn't get to the university because there was a transportation stoppage."
Characteristics of universities
The characteristics of universities depend on each country and the historical period in question. Historians believe that the oldest university is the High School that was created in China during the Yu period (2257 BC – 2208 BC).
More similar to today's universities were the Persian schools of Edessa and Nisibis , developed between the 4th century and the end of the 5th century .
Universities allow training in multiple subjects.
Most prestigious institutions
There are many universities that have great prestige worldwide. However, among all of them we could highlight, for example, that of Bologna ( Italy ). One of the oldest in Europe as it was founded in 1088 and was famous during the Middle Ages for the fact that it had a great humanities education.
However, we must not forget other equally significant universities, such as the University of Oxford ( United Kingdom ), which is one of the most prestigious and has the privilege of being the oldest English-speaking university in the world. the world.
Stephen Hawking,Albert Einstein,JRR Tolkien,Lewis Carroll,John Locke yT. S. Eliot son algunos de los más ilustres estudiantes que ha tenido la citada entidad universidad británica, considerada una de las diez mejores de todo el planeta.
Along with them, the University of Salamanca ( Spain ), which dates back to the 13th century , also deserves special recognition. In 1218 it was specifically when the university was founded that had the privilege of being the first on the European continent to obtain a university degree.
Cambridge ( United Kingdom ), Harvard ( United States ), Yale ( United States ), San Marcos ( Peru ) and Nacional de Córdoba ( Argentina ) are other universities that have more international projection. and more prestige. Hence, every year there are many young students who make considerable efforts to be able to get a place in one of those.
The university today
The notion of a modern university is associated with empirical thinking and the scientific discoveries that came after the industrial revolution that began in the 18th century .
The development of the Internet allows us to think about an evolution of universities, since face-to-face education in physical classrooms can be complemented or even replaced by distance classes. With the help of video conferencing, chat, email and other technological applications, the university is in a position to go digital. In this way, physical limits (such as geographical distance) for access to university education are reduced.