African Universities and Western Tradition (The Godkin Lectures on the Essentials of Free Government and the Duties of the Citizen)

Universities in tropical Africa have faithfully mirrored European or American traditions of education; Senegal follows the French pattern of a university, Ghana the British, and there is now in Nigeria a university which imitates the American Land Grant college. But universities, like animals and plants, must adapt themselves to their environment if they are to survive. This adaptation is the subject of Sir Eric Ashby’s enlightening book which grows out of twelve years of experience in Africa culminating in his chairmanship of the “Ashby Commission” on higher education in Nigeria. Taking as his theme “cultural nationalism and universities,” he recounts how higher education was exported to the British colonies on the British model—self-governing corporations, operating on the assumption that their social function was to nurture an intellectual elite. He then analyzes—with quotations from the African press and from the speeches of political leaders—the pressures on higher education arising from African nationalism and the response of West African universities to these pressures. This book, in examining the role and function of universities in West Africa, simultaneously provides an illuminating commentary on the political, social, and psychological problems of these new nations. Biographical note: AshbyEric: Sir Eric Ashby, Master of Clare College, was from 1967 to 1969 Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is the author of African Universities and Western Tradition (HUP, 1964) and, with Miss Anderson, of Universities:British, Indian, African - A Study in the Ecology of Higher Education (HUP, 1966) Ashby Eric : Sir Eric Ashby, Master of Clare College, was from 1967 to 1969 Vice–Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is the author of African Universities and Western Tradition (HUP, 1964) and, with Miss Anderson, of Universities:British, Indian, African - A Study in the Ecology of Higher Education (HUP, 1966). PREFACE Contents I. THE EUROPEAN TRADITION EXPORTED II. BALANCE SHEET FOR UNIVERSITIES IN WEST AFRICA III. AFRICAN NATIONALISM CONFRONTS THE UNIVERSITY IV. A SUMMING UP REFERENCES INDEX Good clean copy - no markings internally but some browning to covers. Tight & bright, 114pp. Overall, good copy.