From Clerici Vagantes to Internet. A comparative perspective on universities

The Comparative Education Studies Series aims at offering a space in which issues of education — thought, systems, theories, methodologies, history — can be broached from a comparative point of view, with interventions from academics from all over the world and aimed at an international readership. The “challenges” which are facing education today are demanding to be broached by approaching them in a way which helps to overcome the existing boundaries. It is in this light that the decision to publish a series of books in English in Italy must be seen. And in this spirit the Series wants to build a “bridge” between academics of different extractions, a dynamic and lively space in which to meet and interact.Higher education is currently at the centre of the attention of academics studying education in an international context. How the University is changing is a subject which is coming in for analysis from many points of view. Roots, identity and innovations, social demands and intellectual tradition meet and clash — while one of the more fascinating features of university tradition, that of the clerici vagantes — is echoed and, in some ways challenged, by the new forms of mobility. This volume, which is the expression of the XIX Conference of CESE (Comparative Education Society in Europe), consists of numerous contributions from some of the most authoritative experts in comparative education who, through theoretical, historical and comparative analyses, present an original and impassioned picture of the issues facing the University and educational systems in a European and world-wide context. Donatella Palomba is Professor of Education at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”.Anselmo Roberto Paolone is Lecturer at the University of Udine and at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”.