The origins of the university are closely linked to theological education in Europe. By 1200, some places of Christian catechesis became universities. The University of Bologna, established in the late 11th century, is considered the "mother of universities." Universities were originally under the auspices of the papacy and clergy, with theology considered the "Queen of Sciences." The modern university model emerged between 1800-1900, establishing a focus on university research and education. This model spread through Europe and to the United States. Today's universities face challenges in balancing market demands with providing students a humanistic and comprehensive education.

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PAST AND FUTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY
Fernando Alcoforado *
The University is an institution of higher education formed by several colleges and
confers several academic degrees. These institutions may include, in addition to the
faculties, various departments, orders, research centers and other entities. According to
historians, the oldest university is the School established in China in 2257 BC to 2208
BC. The origins of the University is closely linked to theological education. By the year
1200, some places Christian catechesis became universities in Europe.
The University of Bologna was established in the late eleventh century and is regarded
by many as the "mother of the universities." The University of Paris was the second and
came after Oxford. At that time, the University of Paris became the center of
philosophical and theological world. Higher education was the scope of the clergy. The
scholar was seen as the guardian of wisdom. The modern university has arisen because
the bishops needed a place to provide clerical training. The theology was considered the
"Queen of the Sciences" at the University. In the period between 1250 to 1500 were
founded 71 universities in Europe.
The University is an institution that, in its current dominant model, originated in
medieval Europe. The medieval universities, due to its origins more frequent in clerical
schools, were consecrated by Papal Bull, and also because most of the teachers were
clerics. They inherited many rights and privileges that were exclusive of the clergy.
Even when a university was established by Royal Decree, as was the case for the Lisbon
Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis D. Dinis 1288, used to acquire ecclesiastical forum as
occurred in this university with the Bull of Pope Nicholas IV De staturegni Portugaliae
in 1290.
There are authors like Jacques Verger and Walter Rüegg, who say it cannot be
conceptualized as a university schools that existed before the thirteenth century because
they do not have the characteristics of what is meant by this type of institution today.
The medieval universities (1300-1500) were now under the auspices of the papacy's
power now lay. Even so, they were essential to the construction of knowledge because
Western scholars had them concerned primarily with the development of science.
The birth of modern universities occurred from 1520, with the Protestant Reformation
movement spreading across the northern European countries and the early involvement
of universities in non-Catholic institutions. This also occurred in the United States.
Also, the idea of uniting the scientific knowledge to technological development is
present with the École Normale Supérieure and the École Polytechnique, founded in
1794 in France under government control and the University of Berlin (now known as
Humboldt University), in 1810, he preached the need for universities to develop
research and the primacy of academic freedom.
The model also focused on university research, and education, established between
1800 and 1900 and the successful German model of the University of Berlin spreads
through Europe and reaches the United States. In 1876, surge the American Johns
Hopkins University. The notion of the modern university is associated with empirical
thinking and the scientific discoveries that came in the wake of the Industrial
Revolution began in the eighteenth century. Traditionally, university courses were
organized by discipline and hierarchy in pedagogical terms, ie, the role of the student

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would receive knowledge by the teacher, to receive the diploma. However, the new
university model, recently implemented in the European Union, based in Bologna
Project, challenges this traditional design. Establishes a greater interaction with new
technologies, more space for individual initiatives within the research and field
investigation, and flexible curricula.
Bologna Project search rethink the relationship of knowledge to individuals, as there is
a risk of skills to interpret only the perspective of the labor market as currently occurs in
Brazil, due to its volatile nature and precarious, tends to guide the production and
absorption knowledge according to the needs of businesses. At a time when the political
and economic agents of the European Union are actively committed to increasing the
competitiveness of European senior with the United States and Japan, the update of the
curriculum of higher education should not only respond to market demands, but also
provide knowledge of the individual trainers. The academy of the future in the European
Union should favor a humanistic and comprehensive. In it, the student is subject who
creates his training and knows how to solve problems.
While in the past, a recent graduate in European university was considered a
professional ready to work and had virtually guaranteed his position in the labor market,
today the scenario is quite different. If there is constant updating, either through courses
at universities or other educational institutions or even from self-study process, we run
the risk of getting professional outdated and no longer be considered appropriate by the
labor market. Market requirements and adaptation of European Union universities
began slowly in the 1980s and exploded in the 1990s.
As there are more people graduating from high school, there is a greater demand for
higher education and, consequently, through continuing education. The society lives in
the information age, in which the jobs they used physical force to be made are replaced
by jobs requiring technical information and abstract, ie, requiring the ability to build
their own knowledge. In a sense, one can say that it happened in that the Internet has
become a powerful tool.
The Internet has accelerated the accumulation and production of knowledge, making the
capacity of practitioners to be enlarged and more demanded. The development of the
Internet leads us to think of a revolution of the universities in the future, once the
physical classroom education classes can be supplemented, even replaced by distance
classes. With the help of video conferencing, discussion forums (chat), electronic mail
and other technological applications, universities are able to digitize. Thus, are reduced
physical limitations (such as geographical distance) for access to university education.
In Brazil, possessed of an education system exceeded, it is imperative restructuring at
all levels, from elementary to university. In the case of university education, Brazil
should be inspired by the Bologna Project being conducted in the European Union.
* Alcoforado, Fernando, engineer and doctor of Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the
University of Barcelona, a university professor and consultant in strategic planning, business planning,
regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo,
1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do
desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,
http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel,
São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era
Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social
Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG,

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Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora,
Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global
(Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011) and Os Fatores Condicionantes do
Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), among others.