| The reform process initiated in 1877 laid the foundations for modern research universities in France by 1912. For the first time, the Sorbonne's Faculty of Letters trained significant numbers of full-time students, including graduate students, enrolled in formal degree programs. Throughout the university system, the reforms established research and publication as central priorities. Sorbonne professors not only contributed to leading intellectual journals, in several cases, they founded and directed these reviews. The emphasis on research and publication encouraged professors and students to become part of an international university community through journals, conferences and exchanges. This remarkable metamorphosis of French higher education, particularly in the humanities, was made possible by the scientific vision advanced and advocated by the reformers, including Sorbonne professors such as Gustave Lanson, Ernest Lavisse and Charles Seignobos. The Third Republic's allocation of funding for the construction of appropriate facilities and hiring of necessary personnel, transformed the vision into reality. The results were inspiring architecture, impressive enrollments and improved degree programs which enabled the nouvelle Sorbonne to serve as the model for the reformed humanities in the French university system. There were, however, limitations to the success of the reforms. Several of the provincial universities were under-funded and poorly staffed. Professionalization raised the caliber of professors, but left them less time for their students. And the democratization of French society which higher education initially supported, slowed substantially after educators themselves became part of France's status elite. The many problems of our own society, including equal access to higher education, require a vision and commitment of even greater magnitude than those of the Sorbonne professors and their colleagues. Complaisance, self-absorption, or self-satisfaction, as Michael Berube and Cary Nelson have suggested, are no longer viable options if higher education, especially the humanities wish to remain relevant to the society we intend to serve. |
