The next Colloquium of the International Commission for the History of Universities will be held in Oslo (Norway) 9-11 August 2000 in conjunction with the congress of the International Committee of Historical Sciences.

Besides the Catholic Church the university is commonly recognised as the oldest existing institution within the Western world. At the same time the university is appreciated as one of the most potent dynamic forces within modern society. The paradox constitutes a core problem in the history of universities.

The focus of the colloquium will be on the exploration of questions such as:

- Phases of transformation and mechanics of crises in the history of universities: content, timing and dynamics of transformation processes; forces of change and stability.
- Continuity and transformation across regions, national, religious and cultural boundaries.
- The legitimation basis of the university in different phases; crises of legitimation as force of transformation.
- Innovation versus tradition of pragmatic adaptability as explanations of the university's ability to survive.
- Reality and character of the alleged continuity of the university; construction and reconstruction of academic traditions as identity forming and legitimizing structures.

The Programme committee invites the submission of proposals for papers by all scholars interested in the history of universities exploring any period from the Middle Ages to the Present. Comparative perspectives are encouraged. The colloquium will comprise three half-day meetings. The time allocated for each paper will be twenty minutes.

Further information will be available on Internet (address see below) from 15 October 1998 onwards.

Proposals for papers must be received by the Programme committee by 1 June 1999 and a brief résumé (not more than 500 words) by 1 December 1999. The committee will announce the definitive programme on 15 January 2000.

All enquiries, suggestions and proposals for papers should be made in the first instance to

Prof. Sivert Langholm or
Research Fellow Frederik W. Thue

Forum for universitetshistorie
Department of History, University of Oslo
Pb. 1008 Blindern
N-0315 Oslo

Phone: + 47 22 85 68 09 (Langholm) or + 47 22 85 42 06 (Thue)
Fax: + 47 22 85 57 71
E-mail: univhist-2000@hi.uio.no

Internet: http://www.hf.uio.no/oslo2000/univhist/