About
The permanent section of this website draws almost entirely from The ‘making of men’: the Idea and reality of Newman’s university in Oxford and Dublin (Gracewing, 2014). Since this volume turned out longer than anticipated, and since some have found the length off-putting, I thought that the medium of a website would encourage others to dip into the thought of this Christian humanist. No-one has written about the nature and function of a university like Newman has, and few have helped reform one great university and found another as Newman did. His words and actions have a timeless quality about them.
I am grateful to Jonathan, who has acted as my webmaster.
Paul Shrimpton
Contact
If you have a suggestion to make about the content or layout of the website, please send an email to the webmaster.
Layout of the website
THE BOOK
Its fame
Its genesis
Why read the Idea?
Criticisms of the Idea
Failure of the Catholic University
Reading the Idea
Rise and progress of universities
Some celebrated themes
Direct end of the university
Culture of the intellect
A trained intellect
Enlargement of the mind
Knowledge and the university
Research
The role of research
A famous paradox
A superficial omniscience
Knowledge, an end in itself
University training
The gentleman
What the gentleman is not
THE AUTHOR
John Henry Newman
Newman and education
His educational writings
Newman in action
A broad conception of education
Why listen to Newman?
Is his vision relevant today?
WHAT IS UNIVERSITY EDUCATION?
University entrance examination
The purpose of education
What is a university?
The ‘virtual’ university
University days, dangerous times
From home to university
Ten letters introductory to college residence
Tom Wolfe’s warning
Beware league tables
Higher education at risk?
The meaning of life
Undergraduate education an end in itself
Educating in virtue
Muddled thinking
Tamworth reading room
Newman and secularism
HUMAN FLOURISHING
An Aristotelian tradition
University education ‘makes men’
Neglect at Newman’s Oxford
The ‘problem’ of freedom
An education in freedom
Training for life
A flourishing university
Genius loci
Scholarships and the genius loci
Extracurricular activities and social life
Newman the schoolboy
Newman the Oxford student
Newman the university rector
The L&H
Newman the school founder
Mutual education
Acquiring the social virtues
Adventures of Mr Verdant Green
Gaining a view of life
Loss and Gain
ACADEMIC FLOURISHING
The practical Newman: adapting theory
Study techniques
Academic distractions
Advice on writing essays
Written work
Books and teachers
Lectures
Newman and the internet
Newman and science
Medicine in Dublin
FAITH AND REASON
The compatibility of faith and reason
The fusion of the secular and religious in education
Gratia perfecit naturam
A flourishing faith
Newman the undergraduate
Newman the tutor
Newman the rector
Religious instruction at Newman’s University
Being well versed in one’s religion
University Church, Dublin
Three vital principles of the Christian student
What makes a Catholic university?
A Catholic university today?
Attending a faith-based university
Attending a secular or non-denominational university
UNIVERSITY RESIDENCES
Residential living: a corrective to care-free living
Residential living: an apologia
The importance of a residential university
The question of domicile
Collegiate living
Newman’s collegiate plan for Dublin
Collegiate house: role of the dean
Newman as dean of a collegiate house
Collegiate house: spiritual training
Championing the tutorial system
Tutor at Oriel
Newman’s scheme for Dublin
Tutors at collegiate houses in Dublin
Newman as tutor
The role of the college tutor
TODAY’S ACADEMY
Running a university
Newman as rector
Pastoral oversight
Dealing with the young
Dealing with the young in Dublin
Personal influence in education
Professorial system
Professorial and collegiate universities
The university–college principle
Testing and exams
The university as a business
The fallacy of excluding theology
Student residences overseeing them
How to manage a university residence
BEYOND UNIVERSITY
A preparation for this world
Planning for a career
An antidote to the media
