The City on the Hill

The struggle for a Dutch-language university in Leuven not only brought an end to the era of a bilingual, unitary university. In 1968 a regime of authoritarian priests and status-conscious professors was also dispatched for ever. In the euphoria of its new-found autonomy the University opted for forward flight: in a reaction against the forces of conservatism it presented itself as a young, dynamic institution, populated by career professors and students who were set to storm the barricades of traditionalism. This book tells a story of contestation, but also of professionalisation, of ever more specialised scholarship and its research triumphs, of unflagging engagement with rigorous academic goals and international horizons. It is the story of an ambitious enterprise.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOREWORD

AGENDA
Challenges for a new university
The third founder
Tradition as a foundation
The problems of the day
'The most difficult hypothesis'
Common theme

HOMO NOVUS
A portrait of Pieter de Somer

1. NEITHER PRINCE NOR CHURCH
The battle for independence
'Leuven Flemish'
Not a clerical university
The letter of the law
For another policy
New associations

2. STRUCTURES
The organisation of the scholarly world
An energetic start
The power of academics
'Malaise'
Renovation in style
Principles

3. STUDENT POLITICS
Contestation and participation
'Young caravans'
Red Leuven
Sea change
'Civil servants'
After the caravans

4. THE PROFESSIONAL RANKS
Living in different times
Five generation
Colonials and canons
Pioneers and pragmatists
Threats
An open world

5. MODELS
The transfer of knowledge
A Gesamthochschule?
Slimming down
Streamlining
Continued learning, lifelong learning
The triumph of didactics

THE ORATOR
A portrait of Roger Dillemans

6. CALLING AND PROFESSION
On engagement, ethos and meaning
Identity
Changing commitment
A mission
Values and scholarship
A special radiance

7. WORLDLY MATTERS
Serving the community
In the public eye
Healing and curing
Academic 'outreach'
Contract research, patents and spin-offs

8. THE GENDER OF THE UNIVERSITY
The feminisation debate
A freer lifestyle?
Circumspection
'Woman power'
Many agendas

9. THE STUDENT RANKS
From Leuven to Barcelona
A student life for everyone
Class and style
Mobility
Privatisation

10. GEOGRAPHY
Building the University
Three cores
Planning
The architects of the new-build University
The prestige of restoration

ENTREPRENEUR
A portrait of André Oosterlinck

11. DIRECTING
The bureaucratisation of research and teaching
A study bureau
Coordination
Rationalisation
Quality as policy
The battle against the Moloch

12. SPECIALISATION
Disciplines without a centre
'Big science'
In the frontline
Different science
Like cousins
Conversations

13. THE 'MIDDLE RANKS'
Blue and white coats
The residue of the past
Multiformity
Upwards
Group interests
'The dying swan'

14. STRIKING POWER
Income, expenditure and allocation formulas
Equivalence
Savings
Flemish money
A whirlwind
Distorted relationship

15. MISE-EN-SCàˆNE
The self-image of an institution
Commemoration
Academic rituals
Heritage and culture
Image creation
The enlarged community

SUMMING UP
The togati of the future
Years of passion
Years of disillusionment
Years of repentance and insurance
A broader horizon

SOURCES AND LITERATURE
Origins of knowledge
Archive material
Images and interviews
Published sources
Literature

ORIGINS OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS
INDEX OF NAMES
AUTHOR'S NOTE

Format: Monograph - hardback

Size: 300 × 230 × 40 mm

384 pages

ISBN: 9789058675705

Publication: December 11, 2006

Series: Lovaniensia 28

Languages: English

Stock item number: 46215

Jo Tollebeek is professor of Cultural History at KU Leuven.
Liesbet Nys is postdoctoral researcher at the Research Group, Cultural History since 1750 at KU Leuven.