Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
The History of Higher Education
Speaker
Professor Stanley Chodorow
Coordinator
David Guggenheim
Higher education is about teaching skills and knowledge that depend on literacy. So, we will start with the invention and teaching of writing—the development that moved human beings from the prehistorical to the historical condition. Education in writing and reading generated a culture infinitely larger and more complex than any based on education in skills that came before. Writing also made it possible to preserve and build stories. Our prehistoric ancestors had a rich tradition of oral lore—stories of the gods and the heroes who created their societies. But the body of knowledge in oral traditions is limited by the capacity of human memory, while written traditions grow endlessly and preserve the record of that growth.
March 31: The Education of the Earliest Writers and Readers This introductory lecture will discuss the education of the earliest writers and readers, the scribal classes of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and the uses to which the new educational achievements were put. We will then consider the earliest writing in India, China and the Americas.
April 14: Education Based on the Written Word This lecture will discuss education in societies based on the written word—the ancient Jews, Greeks, Romans, Chinese and Hindus. What educational institutions did these societies create? MASTER CLASSES PREMIER CLASSES Spring 2026 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
April 28: The Origins of the University in Western Europe This lecture will focus on the origins of the university in western Europe. We will also look at the creation of American liberal arts colleges, modeled on the European institutions but significantly different in goals and settings.
May 12: The History of UC San Diego This lecture will discuss the history of UC San Diego, which the founding faculty hoped to build as a hybrid of the liberal arts college and modern research university. In fact, in its early years, UC San Diego resembled the medieval university.
May 26: The Modern University This lecture will examine the significant changes in universities—at UC San Diego and elsewhere— that have taken place since the early 2000s. Those changes include the creation of a teaching faculty, a separation of general education from disciplinary majors, and new technologies like the internet and AI. The question will be, what will universities be like 40–50 years from now?
March 31: The Education of the Earliest Writers and Readers This introductory lecture will discuss the education of the earliest writers and readers, the scribal classes of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and the uses to which the new educational achievements were put. We will then consider the earliest writing in India, China and the Americas.
April 14: Education Based on the Written Word This lecture will discuss education in societies based on the written word—the ancient Jews, Greeks, Romans, Chinese and Hindus. What educational institutions did these societies create? MASTER CLASSES PREMIER CLASSES Spring 2026 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
April 28: The Origins of the University in Western Europe This lecture will focus on the origins of the university in western Europe. We will also look at the creation of American liberal arts colleges, modeled on the European institutions but significantly different in goals and settings.
May 12: The History of UC San Diego This lecture will discuss the history of UC San Diego, which the founding faculty hoped to build as a hybrid of the liberal arts college and modern research university. In fact, in its early years, UC San Diego resembled the medieval university.
May 26: The Modern University This lecture will examine the significant changes in universities—at UC San Diego and elsewhere— that have taken place since the early 2000s. Those changes include the creation of a teaching faculty, a separation of general education from disciplinary majors, and new technologies like the internet and AI. The question will be, what will universities be like 40–50 years from now?
Speaker Bio
Presenter: Stanley Chodorow is Professor Emeritus of History at UC San Diego. He served as Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Arts and Humanities from 1983–1994. He is a medieval historian specializing in the history of the western legal systems, constitutional ideas and institutions, and political thought. He received his BA and PhD from Cornell University.
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