The Idea of University...

What is Newman's "Idea of a University?"
What is Spayde's?

Newman's Idea of University is a place where as he says, "all branches of knowledge are connected together." He believed that to separate the different sub-sects of a subject would harm the greater body of knowledge they came from. The student needed to study all that the liberal University had to offer and studying one field will take away from the experience. Newman believes formal University education will lead to better thinkers and more prosperous members of the Catholic church. These people with knowledge of the sciences can better contemplate the mysteries of Christianity. He believed the University was a place where the students interacting and relying on one another, each with their own set of skills, would thrive. Newman says that gaining a "philosophical habit," is the main purpose of the University. Newman goes on to talk about the fact that training of the intellect will "best enable him to discharge his duties to society." This training will raise the level of public awareness as a whole. It will advance the society culturally and morally. To Newman the idea of University is something that will enrich an individual for a lifetime.

Spayde's idea of University is a place that is not the most important place of learning like many people believe. Spayde thinks the majority of really useful learning is done actually experiencing life and it happens with every new experience. Spayde says, "is it any wonder that many of us are beginning to feel that we didn't get the whole story in school, that our educators didn't prepare us for the world we're living in today?" He does not discount the importance of formal learning when he tells of the humanities classes for people near the poverty line in the lower east side of New York. Spayde says that "this is just the beginning of the engagement between ideas and reality." David Orr of Oberlin College describes two types of knowledge: slow knowledge and fast knowledge. Slow knowledge is the kind of life long learning that gives our lives meaning. Fast knowledge is like technology, quickly changing and quickly obsolete. He explains that too much emphasis on fast knowledge in our hi-tech society can lead to disaster. Spayde believes that the idea of University is doing what you truly love, to have learned enough about yourself from your own experiences, and to not get caught up in the structured formal way of learning.