Newman Studies Journal

John Henry Newman originally prepared the discourses and essays, which eventually were collected under a single cover as The Idea of a University,¹ during his years in Ireland as its Catholic University's first rector (1851–1858). His purpose in these publications was multiple: presenting a case for Catholic university education in Ireland, where at the time the only institution of higher learning was under Protestant auspices, and so closed to professing Catholics; convincing hesitant parents to send their sons—this being an age when daughters were educated at home—to the fledgling institution; persuading the Irish Catholic clergy and other prospective benefactors to support this new and somewhat novel enterprise;² explaining to students, and even to some of their instructors, what the purpose of a university really is; providing his student-charges with advice about how to succeed in college—since his own college education had been rather directionless;³ discussing the promise and potential of different academic fields—ranging from the arts and humanities, through medicine and science, to philosophy and theology; even providing prospective university preachers with sermon directives; but above all, sharing his own ideals about the nature of a Catholic University.⁴

Since 1873, Newman's Idea has consisted of two parts: I) discussions about "university teaching" that treat both theology and its place in a university and the nature of knowledge, both in itself and in relation to other academic subjects, and [End Page 60] II) a broad variety of "university subjects"—academic topics in literature and philosophy, as well as science and medicine—plus practical subjects ranging from pedagogy and preaching to practical advice for students about their studies.⁵ These varied themes, particularly the pursuit of knowledge and the relationship of faith and reason, recurred frequently in Newman's lectures.

In addition to the variety of topics was the diversity in his audiences—young students and distinguished professors; struggling apprentices, middle-class parents and well-heeled professionals; clergy and laity; Irish, English, and occasional foreigners. Given the complexity of both text and context, reading Newman's Idea today is both challenging and complicated: challenging due to his prose-style; complicated because of the political-ecclesiastical situation in Ireland at that time. Nonetheless, reading Newman's Idea is thought-provoking and profitable. Perhaps what is especially surprising is that a set of essays prompted by the establishing of a small and struggling university, whose maximum enrollment peaked at a few hundred, continues to be read today as a resource providing both insights and guidelines for higher education in the twenty-first century. Even more surprising is the fact that Newman's ideas about a university are still discussed and debated today—not only in the English-speaking world, but in other languages as well,⁶ including three recent translations into Spanish. The first two translations are of Part I of Newman's Idea, and the third translation is of Part II.