Lest readers might get the erroneous idea that PVCs never take a break, I should point out that I have been away on holiday for part of the time since my last blog entry. I had a break in France - partly in the Medoc wine region north of Bordeaux, and partly in the French Basque country, very close to the Spanish border - and that location also provided the opportunity for a drive to Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim.

The Pope's visit to the UK has led to a surge in interest in Cardinal John Henry Newman. Some of this has revolved around his role in creating the modern unviersity - his 'The Idea of a University' has been cited quite a lot.  I'm afraid I am in a very different camp.  I much prefer the thinking of the German Wilhelm von Humboldt - and it is notable that we are in the 200th year since the founding of the institution that bears his name, on Unter den Linden in Berlin.

Newman's university, were it to be functioning today, would be almost exclusively concermed with the teaching of the Catholic faith, with English linguistics, and with Latin.  It would be solely a teaching institution, with no research activity, no science, and no consideration of society or human beings beyond their understanding of one religious position.

Humboldt's university in contrast (and it is an idea that pre-dates that of Newman) would provide the dual functions of research and teaching. Research would be built around the scientific paradigm of empirical-positivist investigation.  Teaching would be informed by research.  And the reach would cover the breadth of subjects that we today regard as worthy of university study - natural science, society, medicine, cultures, and the practical application of knowledge (Humboldt was writing before the concept of Engineering came to the fore).  And while Wilhelm von Humboldt is rightly credited as the founder of the university, his brother Alexander (whose statue is paired with Wilhelm's at the entrance to the Humboldt University) brought a strongly international feel to the whole enterprise. Alexander spent a good proportion of his life as an explorer, geographer and anthropologist, and realised that global and comparative dimensions to study needed to be provided in universities that might otherwise become purely national and inward-looking institutions.

Much of the Humboldtian view of universities therefore resonates with higher education today: to my mind, Newman's views do not.  But there is one other Humboldtian element that I rather like - although not directly connected with the founding brothers.  On entering the lobby of the main building in Berlin, the visitor is met with a frieze carrying, in gold letters, a quotation that I again think has great relevance to what we should be doing in higher education.  My translation from the German goes like this: "It is the job of the thinkers not just to understand the world, but also to seek to change it".  That's another aspect of what we are about - using knowledge to improve human conditions. The quotation is from Karl Marx.