History and Context of Graduate Education
The roots of graduate school as we know it today can be traced as far back as 387 BC in ancient Greece. During this time, two advanced learning institutions were established. The Academy founded by Plato in 387 BC and Lyceum founded by Aristotle in 335 BC. Both schools offered advanced studies in philosophy. The success of the Academy and Lyceum helped pave the way for future universities to develop across the Middle East and Europe. Academies were soon built in Palestine and Babylonia for Jewish scholars. In 5th century AD, a university was created in Nalanda where Chinese and Indian scholars could study Buddhism. In the 10th century, Al Azhar University was founded in Egypt and is still one of the prominent Islamic learning institutions in the entire Middle East today.
Medieval Universities became prevalent during the 12th century. They began with the University of Paris which focused its studies on theology and philosophy. Other schools in Europe used the University of Paris as a model to create their universities. Italian schools such as the University of Bologna and the University of Salemo were introduced and focused their studies on law and medicine. Upon the success of these early learning institutions, more universities were later created in Europe in countries such as Germany, England, Bohemia, and Poland. During this time, only a small population of men were accepted in these universities. Women were not allowed at all. Lectures were conducted in Latin, which was the European language during that time. Upon completion of their studies, students would receive either a master or doctor of philosophy degree.
During the Renaissance and into the 18th Century, scholars became less interested in the religious emphasis on classical literature that was prevalent with medieval universities and became more interested on what classical literature said about life on earth. However, since many universities were…