No 11 (2000): Número 11 - Enero 2000

At the edge of the turn of the millennium, thinking about the university continues to be a challenge for our reason, sensitivity and capacity for action. During the intense century that is closing, we have reflected on and built the university world in various ways without departing from three basic models:

a) The classical French or Napoleonic model is one of the oldest in which the State makes the university a tool for modernizing society. It is the instrument for affirming one's own national identity, based on the principles of recognition of merit and formal equality, which are supported in turn by a powerful administration.

b) The German model, known as "Humboldtian", is a system that raises academic autonomy in the face of all government interference. The role of the State is to guarantee the independence of teaching and research.

c) The English and North American model that is based on the functionalist concept of «useful knowledge», linked to the economy and business. This type of pragmatic university allows the formation of intellectuals who can dedicate part of their lives to researching the most unlikely topics that it is believed that the market will need at some indeterminate moment.