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{{Short description|Institution of higher learning}}
{{About||other uses|Academy (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Academia}}
[[File:Archiginnasio ora blu Bologna.jpg|thumb|[[Bologna University]], Italy, established in 1088, is the [[List of oldest universities in continuous operation|world's oldest academic institution in continuous operation]].]]

[[File:Main Gate, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, June 2024.jpg|thumb|[[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]], United Kingdom, a military academy for the preparation of military officers]]

An '''academy''' ([[Attic Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Ἀκαδήμεια}}; [[Koine Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Ἀκαδημία}}) is an institution of [[tertiary education]]. The name traces back to [[Plato]]'s school of philosophy, founded {{circa|386 BC}} at [[Akademia]], a [[sanctuary]] of [[Athena]], the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of [[Ancient Athens|Athens]], Greece. The [[Royal Spanish Academy]] defines an academy as a scientific, literary or artistic society established with public authority and as a teaching establishment, public or private, of a professional, artistic, technical or simply practical nature.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Academy |url=https://dle.rae.es/academia |website=Rae |language=es}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
[[File:MANNapoli 124545 plato's academy mosaic.jpg|thumb|[[Plato's Academy mosaic]] from [[Pompeii]]]]

The word comes from the ''Academy'' in [[ancient Greece]], which derives from the [[Athenian]] [[hero]], ''[[Akademos]]''. Outside the city walls of [[Athens]], the [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]] was made famous by [[Plato]] as a center of learning. The sacred space, dedicated to the goddess of wisdom, [[Athena]], had formerly been an [[olive]] [[Grove (nature)|grove]], hence the expression "the groves of Academe".<ref>{{cite OED|academe}}</ref>

In these gardens, the philosopher [[Plato]] conversed with followers. Plato developed his sessions into a method of teaching philosophy and in 387&nbsp;BC, established what is known today as the [[Old Academy]].

By extension, ''academia'' has come to mean the accumulation, development and transmission of [[knowledge]] across generations as well as its practitioners and transmitters. In the 17th century, British, Italian and French scholars used the term to describe types of institutions of higher learning.

==History==

===Origins===
====Original Academy====
{{main|Platonic Academy}}

[[File:"The School of Athens" by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino.jpg|thumb|''[[The School of Athens]]'', fresco by [[Raphael]] (1509–1510), that depicts a congregation of philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists from [[Ancient Greece]], including [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Pythagoras]], [[Archimedes]], and [[Heraclitus]]]]

Before ''Akademia'' was a school, and even before [[Cimon]] enclosed its precincts with a wall,<ref>[[Plutarch]] ''Life of Cimon'' 13.8</ref> it contained a sacred grove of olive trees dedicated to [[Athena]], the goddess of [[wisdom]], outside the city walls of ancient [[Athens]].<ref>[[Thucydides]] ii:34</ref> The archaic name for the site was ''Hekademia'', which by classical times evolved into ''Akademia'' and was explained, at least as early as the beginning of the 6th century BC, by linking it to an Athenian [[Greek hero cult|hero]], a legendary "[[Akademos]]". The site of ''Akademia'' was sacred to [[Athena]] and other immortals.

Plato's immediate successors as "scholarch" of ''Akademia'' were [[Speusippus]] (347–339 BC), [[Xenocrates]] (339–314 BC), [[Polemon (scholarch)|Polemon]] (314–269 BC), [[Crates of Athens|Crates]] ({{circa|269}}–266 BC), and [[Arcesilaus]] ({{circa|266}}–240 BC). Later scholarchs include [[Lacydes of Cyrene]], [[Carneades]], [[Clitomachus (philosopher)|Clitomachus]], and [[Philo of Larissa]] ("the last undisputed head of the Academy").<ref>''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. (1996), s.v. "Philon of Larissa."</ref><ref>See the table in [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521250285 The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy] (Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 53–54.</ref> Other notable members of ''Akademia'' include [[Aristotle]], [[Heraclides Ponticus]], [[Eudoxus of Cnidus]], [[Philip of Opus]], [[Crantor]], and [[Antiochus of Ascalon]].

====Neoplatonic Academy of Late Antiquity====
{{Further|End of Hellenic Religion}}

After a lapse during the early Roman occupation, ''Akademia'' was refounded<ref>{{cite journal|first = Alan|last = Cameron|jstor = 44696832|title = The last days of the Academy at Athens|journal = Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society| volume = 195 (n.s. 15)|date = 1969| issue=15 (195) |pages = 7–29| doi=10.1017/S1750270500030207 | s2cid=163730386 }}</ref> as a new institution of some outstanding Platonists of late antiquity who called themselves "successors" (''[[Diadochi|diadochoi]]'', but of Plato) and presented themselves as an uninterrupted tradition reaching back to Plato. However, there cannot have actually been any geographical, institutional, economic or [[personal continuity]] with the original Academy in the new organizational entity.<ref name="bechtle">[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-04-19.html Gerald Bechtle, Bryn Mawr Classical Review of Rainer Thiel, ''Simplikios und das Ende der neuplatonischen Schule in Athen''. Stuttgart, 1999] {{webarchive|url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20050313013529/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-04-19.html |date=2005-03-13 }} (in English).</ref>

The last "Greek" philosophers of the revived ''Akademia'' in the 6th century were drawn from various parts of the [[Hellenistic]] cultural world and suggest the broad [[syncretism]] of the common culture (see ''[[koine]]''): Five of the seven ''Akademia'' philosophers mentioned by Agathias were [[Syriac Christians|Syriac]] in their cultural origin: Hermias and Diogenes (both from Phoenicia), Isidorus of Gaza, [[Damascius]] of Syria, [[Iamblichus]] of Coele-Syria and perhaps even [[Simplicius of Cilicia]].<ref name="bechtle"/>

The [[Byzantine Empire|emperor]] [[Justinian I|Justinian]] ceased the school's funding in AD&nbsp;529, a date that is often cited as the end of [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]]. According to the sole witness, the historian [[Agathias]], its remaining members looked for protection under the rule of [[Sassanid dynasty|Sassanid]] king [[Khosrau I of Persia|Khosrau I]] in his capital at [[Ctesiphon]], carrying with them precious scrolls of literature and philosophy, and to a lesser degree of science. After a peace treaty between the Persian and the Byzantine empire in 532 guaranteed their personal security (an early document in the history of [[freedom of religion]]), some members found sanctuary in the [[paganism|pagan]] stronghold of [[Harran]], near [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]]. One of the last leading figures of this group was Simplicius, a pupil of Damascius, the last head of the Athenian school.

It has been speculated that ''Akademia'' did not altogether disappear.<ref name="bechtle"/><ref name="sorabji11">Richard Sorabji, (2005), ''The Philosophy of the Commentators, 200–600 AD: Psychology (with Ethics and Religion)'', page 11. Cornell University Press</ref> After his exile, Simplicius (and perhaps some others), may have travelled to [[Harran]], near [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]]. From there, the students of an academy-in-exile could have survived into the 9th century, long enough to facilitate the Arabic revival of the Neoplatonist commentary tradition in [[Baghdad]].<ref name="sorabji11"/>

===Ancient and medieval institutions===
{{main|Ancient higher-learning institutions|Madrasa|Medieval university}}
{{See also|University#History{{!}}History of universities}}

====Ancient world====
{{main|Ancient higher-learning institutions}}

=====Greece and early Europe=====
In ancient Greece, after the establishment of the original Academy, [[Plato]]'s colleagues and pupils developed spin-offs of his method. [[Arcesilaus]], a Greek student of Plato established the [[Middle Academy]]. [[Carneades]], another student, established the [[New Academy]]. In 335 BC, [[Aristotle]] refined the method with his own theories and established the [[Lyceum]] in another gymnasium.

=====Africa=====
The [[Musaeum]], [[Serapeum of Alexandria|Serapeum]] and [[library of Alexandria]] Egypt was frequented by [[intellectual]]s from Africa, Europe and Asia studying various aspects of philosophy, language and mathematics.

The [[University of Timbuktu]] was a medieval university in [[Timbuktu]], present-day Mali, which comprised three schools: the Mosque of Djinguereber, the Mosque of Sidi Yahya, and the Mosque of Sankore. During its zenith, the university had an average attendance of around 25,000 students within a city of around 100,000 people.

=====China=====
In China a higher education institution [[Shang Xiang]] was founded by [[Shun (Chinese leader)|Shun]] in the [[Emperor Shun|Youyu]] era before the 21st century BC. The Imperial Central Academy at [[Nanjing]], founded in 258, was a result of the evolution of Shang Xiang and it became the first comprehensive institution combining education and research and was divided into five faculties in 470, which later became [[Nanjing University]].

In the 8th century another kind of institution of learning emerged, named [[Shuyuan]], which were generally privately owned. There were thousands of Shuyuan recorded in ancient times. The degrees from them varied from one to another and those advanced Shuyuan such as [[Bailudong Shuyuan]] and [[Yuelu Shuyuan]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Introduction of Hunan University|url=http://www-en.hnu.edu.cn/About_HNU/Introduction.htm|website=Hunan University}}</ref> (later become [[Hunan University]]) can be classified as higher institutions of learning.

=====India=====
[[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]] or [[Taxila (ancient)|Takshashila]], in ancient [[Hindustan|India]], modern-day Pakistan, was an early centre of learning, near present-day [[Islamabad]] in the city of [[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]]. It is considered one of the ancient universities of the world. According to scattered references which were only fixed a millennium later it may have dated back to at least the 5th century BC.<ref>Hartmut Scharfe (2002): ''Education in Ancient India'', Brill Academic Publishers, {{ISBN|90-04-12556-6}}, p. 141: {{blockquote|We have to be extremely cautious in dealing with the literary evidence, because much of the information offered in the secondary literature on Taxila is derived from the Jataka prose that was only fixed in Ceylon several hundred years after the events that it purports to describe, probably some time after Buddhaghosa, i.e. around A.D. 500.}}</ref> Some scholars date Takshashila's existence back to the 6th century BC.<ref name="Britannica Education">"History of Education", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007.</ref> The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where the religious instruction was most likely still provided on an individualistic basis.<ref>Hartmut Scharfe (2002): ''Education in Ancient India'', Brill Academic Publishers, {{ISBN|90-04-12556-6}}, p. 141</ref> Takshashila is described in some detail in later [[Jataka tales|Jātaka]] tales, written in Sri Lanka around the 5th century AD.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Marshall | first = John | author-link = John Marshall (archaeologist) | title = Taxila: Volume I | orig-year = 1951 | year = 1975 | publisher = [[Motilal Banarsidass]] | location = Delhi | page = 81}}</ref>

It became a noted centre of learning at least several centuries BC, and continued to attract students until the destruction of the city in the 5th century AD. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous [[treatise]] [[Arthashastra]] ([[Sanskrit]] for The knowledge of [[Economics]]) by Chanakya, is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself. Chanakya (or Kautilya),<ref>[http://britannica.com/eb/article-9044882 Kautilya]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110120535/http://britannica.com/eb/article-9044882 |date=2008-01-10 }}. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref> the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] Emperor [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]]<ref>Radhakumud Mookerji (1941; 1960; reprint 1989). ''Chandragupta Maurya and His Times'' (p. 17). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. {{ISBN|81-208-0405-8}}.</ref> and the [[Ayurvedic]] healer [[Charaka]] studied at Taxila.<ref name=Mookerji>Radha Kumud Mookerji (2nd ed. 1951; reprint 1989). ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist'' (pp. 478–489). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. {{ISBN|81-208-0423-6}}.</ref>

Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The [[Vedas]] and the [[Eighteen Arts]], which included skills such as [[archery]], [[hunting]], and [[elephant]] lore, were taught, in addition to its [[law school]], [[medical school]], and school of [[military science]].<ref name=Mookerji/>

[[File:Nalanda University India ruins.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|[[Nalanda]], ancient center of higher learning in [[Bihar]], India,<ref name="Altekar1965">Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1965). ''Education in Ancient India'', Sixth, Varanasi: Nand Kishore & Bros.</ref><ref name="New York Times">"[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09garten.html Really Old School]", Garten, Jeffrey E. New York Times, 9 December 2006.</ref> from 427 to 1197]]

[[Nalanda]] was established in the 5th century AD in [[Bihar (India)|Bihar]], India.<ref name="Altekar1965"/> It was founded in 427 in northeastern India, not far from what is today the southern border of Nepal. It survived until 1197 when it was set upon, destroyed and burnt by the marauding forces of [[Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji]]. It was devoted to Buddhist studies, but it also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of war.<ref name="New York Times"/>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:The ancient university of Nalanda in Bihar, India, November 1996.jpg|thumb|Excavated ruins at [[Nalanda]], [[Bihar]], India 1996]] -->The center had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and parks. It had a nine-story library where monks meticulously copied books and documents so that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students, perhaps a first for an educational institution, housing 10,000 students in the university's heyday and providing accommodation for 2,000 professors.<ref name="Nalanda">{{Cite web |url=http://nalanda.ind.in/index.html |title=Official website of Nalanda University |access-date=2018-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316100842/http://nalanda.ind.in/index.html |archive-date=2012-03-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Nalanda University attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.

=====Persia=====
The geographical position of [[Persia]] allowed it to absorb cultural influences and ideas from both west and east. This include the spread of the Greek form of schools in the new Hellenistic cities built in Persia after the invasion of [[Alexander the Great]].<ref name=Lowe />

Under the [[Sassanian Empire|Sasanians]], [[Classical Syriac|Syriac]] became an important language of the administration and intellectuals, rivaling Greek. Several cities developed centers of higher learning in the Sasanian Empire, including [[Mosul]], [[al-Hira]], and [[Harran]] (famous for the [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] School of the [[Sabians of Harran|Sabians]]). The Grand School was the main center of learning in the Persian capital [[Ctesiphon]], but little is known about it. Perhaps the most famous center of learning in Persia was the [[Academy of Gundishapur]], teaching medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and logic. The academy was later instrumental in founding the Muslim city of Baghdad as a center of learning, and serving as the model for the first Muslim hospital (''[[bimaristan]]'') at Damascus.<ref name=Lowe>{{cite book |last1=Lowe |first1=Roy |last2=Yasuhara |first2=Yoshihito |title=The Origins of Higher Learning: Knowledge networks and the early development of universities |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317543275 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9DolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |language=en}}</ref>

=====Islamic world=====
{{Main|Islamic Golden Age#Education}}
Founded in Fes, [[University of Al-Karaouine]] in the 9th century and in Cairo, [[Al-Azhar University]] in the 10th century, and in Mali, the [[University of Timbuktu]] in about 1100. [[Mustansiriya Madrasah]] in [[Baghdad]], Iraq, was established in 1227 as a [[madrasah]] by the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid Caliph]] [[Al-Mustansir (Baghdad)|al-Mustansir]]. Its library had an initial collection of 80,000 volumes, given by the Caliph. The collection was said to have grown to 400,000 volumes.

====Medieval Europe====
{{Main|Medieval university}}
[[File:ChiostroPietroMartireNapoli.jpg|thumb|Established in 1224 by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]], [[University of Naples Federico II]] in Italy is the world's oldest state-funded academic institution in continuous operation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Storia d'Italia |date=7 August 1981 |publisher=UTET |isbn=88-02-03568-7 |volume=4 |location=Torino |page=122}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Fulvio|last=Delle Donne|title=Storia dello Studium di Napoli in età sveva|publisher=Mario Adda Editore|year=2010|language=it|isbn=978-8880828419|pages=9–10}}</ref>]]

In Europe, the academy dates to the ancient Greeks and Romans in the pre-Christian era. Newer universities were founded in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the European institution of academia took shape. Monks and priests moved out of monasteries to [[cathedral|cathedral cities]] and other towns where they opened the first schools dedicated to advanced study.

The most notable of these new schools were in [[Bologna]] and [[Salerno]], [[Naples]], [[Salamanca]], [[Paris]], [[Oxford]] and [[Cambridge]], while others were opened throughout Europe.

The seven [[liberal arts]]—the [[trivium (education)|Trivium]] ([[Grammar]], [[Rhetoric]], and [[Logic]]), and the [[Quadrivium]] ([[Arithmetic]], [[Geometry]], [[Music]], and [[Astronomy]])—had been codified in [[late antiquity]]. This was the basis of the curriculum in Europe until newly available Arabic texts and the works of Aristotle became more available in Europe in the 12th century.

It remained in place even after the new scholasticism of the [[School of Chartres]] and the encyclopedic work of [[Thomas Aquinas]], until the humanism of the 15th and 16th centuries opened new studies of arts and sciences.

===Renaissance academies in Italy===
With the [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonist revival]] that accompanied the revival of [[Renaissance humanism|humanist studies]], ''academia'' took on newly vivid connotations.

====15th-century ''academies''====
During the [[Florentine Renaissance]], [[Cosimo de' Medici]] took a personal interest in the new [[Platonic Academy (Florence)|Platonic Academy]] that he determined to re-establish in 1439, centered on the marvellous promise shown by the young [[Marsilio Ficino]]. Cosimo had been inspired by the arrival at the otherwise ineffective [[Council of Florence]] of [[Gemistos Plethon]], who seemed a dazzling figure to the Florentine intellectuals.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}} In 1462 Cosimo gave Ficino a villa at [[Careggi]] for the academy's use, situated where Cosimo could see it from his own villa, and drop by for visits. The academy remained a wholly informal group, but one which had a great influence on [[Platonism in the Renaissance|Renaissance Neo-Platonism]].

{{main|Roman academies}}
In Rome, after unity was restored following the [[Western Schism]], humanist circles, cultivating philosophy and searching out and sharing ancient texts tended to gather where there was access to a library. The [[Vatican Library]] was not coordinated until 1475 and was never catalogued or widely accessible: not all popes looked with satisfaction at gatherings of unsupervised intellectuals. At the head of this movement for renewal in Rome was [[Cardinal Bessarion]], whose house from the mid-century was the centre of a flourishing academy of Neoplatonic philosophy and a varied intellectual culture. His valuable Greek as well as Latin library (eventually bequeathed to the city of [[Venice]] after he withdrew from Rome) was at the disposal of the academicians. Bessarion, in the latter years of his life, retired from Rome to [[Ravenna]], but he left behind him ardent adherents of the classic philosophy.

The next generation of humanists were bolder admirers of pagan culture, especially in the highly personal academy of [[Julius Pomponius Laetus|Pomponius Leto]], the natural son of a nobleman of the [[House of Sanseverino|Sanseverino]] family, born in [[Calabria]] but known by his academic name, who devoted his energies to the enthusiastic study of classical antiquity, and attracted a great number of disciples and admirers. He was a worshipper not merely of the literary and artistic form, but also of the ideas and spirit of classic paganism, which made him appear a condemner of [[Christianity]] and an enemy of the Church. In his academy every member assumed a classical name. Its principal members were humanists, like Bessarion's protégé [[Giovanni Antonio Campani]] (Campanus), [[Bartolomeo Platina]], the papal librarian, and [[Filippo Buonaccorsi]], and young visitors who received polish in the academic circle, like [[Publio Fausto Andrelini]] of Bologna who took the [[New Learning]] to the [[University of Paris]], to the discomfiture of his friend [[Erasmus]]. In their self-confidence, these first intellectual [[Neopaganism|neopagans]] compromised themselves politically, at a time when Rome was full of conspiracies fomented by the Roman barons and the neighbouring princes: [[Pope Paul II|Paul II]] (1464–71) caused [[Julius Pomponius Laetus|Pomponio]] and the leaders of the academy to be arrested on charges of irreligion, immorality, and conspiracy against the [[Pope]]. The prisoners begged so earnestly for mercy, and with such protestations of repentance, that they were pardoned. The Letonian academy, however, collapsed.<ref>[[Ludwig Pastor]], ''History of the Popes'', ii, 2, gives an unsympathetic account.</ref>

In Naples, the ''[[Quattrocento]]'' academy founded by [[Alfonso V of Aragon|Alfonso of Aragon]] and guided by [[Antonio Beccadelli (poet)|Antonio Beccadelli]] was the ''Porticus Antoniana'', later known as the ''[[Accademia Pontaniana]]'', after [[Giovanni Pontano]].

====16th-century literary-aesthetic academies====
The 16th century saw at Rome a great increase of literary and aesthetic academies, more or less inspired by the Renaissance, all of which assumed, as was the fashion, odd and fantastic names. We learn from various sources the names of many such institutes; as a rule, they soon perished and left no trace. In the 1520s came the ''[[Accademia degli Intronati]]'', for the encouragement of theatrical representations. There were also the academy of the "[[Vignaiuoli]]", or "[[Vinegrowers]]" (1530), and the ''{{interlanguage link|Accademia della Virtù|it}}'' (1542), founded by [[Claudio Tolomei]] under the patronage of Cardinal [[Ippolito de' Medici]]. These were followed by a new academy in the "[[Orti]]" or [[House of Farnese|Farnese]] gardens. There were also the academies of the "[[Intrepidi]]" (1560), the "[[Animosi]]" (1576), and the "[[Illuminati (Roman)|Illuminati]]" (1598); this last, founded by the [[Marchesa Isabella Aldobrandini Pallavicino]]. Towards the middle of the 16th century there were also the academy of the "[[Notti Vaticane]]", or "[[Vatican Nights]]", founded by [[Saint|St]]. [[Charles Borromeo]]; an "Accademia di [[Diritto]] civile e canonico", and another of the university scholars and students of philosophy ([[Accademia Eustachiana]]). As a rule these academies, all very much alike, were merely circles of friends or clients gathered around a learned man or wealthy patron, and were dedicated to literary pastimes rather than methodical study. They fitted in, nevertheless, with the general situation and were in their own way one element of the historical development. Despite their empirical and fugitive character, they helped to keep up the general esteem for literary and other studies. Cardinals, prelates, and the clergy in general were most favourable to this movement, and assisted it by patronage and collaboration.

In Florence, the Medici again took the lead in establishing the [[Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze|Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno]] in 1563, the first of the more formally organised art academies that gradually displaced the medieval artists' [[guild]]s, usually known as the [[Guild of Saint Luke]], as the bodies responsible for training and often regulating artists, a change with great implications for the development of art, leading to the styles known as [[Academic art]]. The private [[Accademia degli Incamminati]] set up later in the century in [[Bologna]] by the [[The Carracci|Carracci]] brothers was also extremely influential, and with the [[Accademia di San Luca]] of Rome (founded 1593) helped to confirm the use of the term for these institutions.

===17th- and 18th-century academies in Europe===
Gradually academies began to specialize on particular topics (arts, language, sciences) and began to be founded and funded by the kings and other sovereigns (few republics had an academy). And, mainly, since 17th century academies spread throughout Europe.

===Literary-philosophical academies=== <!-- courtesy note: [Draft:]Lumières links here -->
In the 17th century the tradition of literary-philosophical academies, as circles of friends gathering around learned patrons, was continued in Italy; the "[[Accademia degli Umoristi|Umoristi]]" (1611), the "[[Fantastici]] (1625), and the "[[Ordinati]]", founded by [[Cardinal Dati]] and [[Giulio Strozzi]]. About 1700 were founded the academies of the "[[Infecondi]]", the "[[Occulti]]", the "[[Deboli]]", the "[[Aborigini]]", the "[[Immobili]]", the "[[Accademia Esquilina]]", and others. During the 18th century many Italian cities established similar philosophical and scientific academies. In the first half of the 19th century some of these became the [[National Academy|national academies]] of pre-unitarian states: the academy of [[Accesi]] became the [[Panomitan Academy of Buon Gusto]] ([[Trento]]); the academy of [[Timidi]] became the Royal Academy of [[Mantua]]; the [[Accademia dei Ricovrati]] became the [[Galileiana Academy of Arts and Science]] ([[Padova]]); the academy of [[Dissonanti]] became the Royal Academy of [[Modena]] and the academy of [[Oscuri]] became the Royal Academy of [[Lucca]].

====Academies of the arts====
The [[Académie de peinture et de sculpture]] in Paris, established by the monarchy in 1648 (later renamed) was the most significant of the artistic academies, running the famous [[Salon (Paris)|Salon]] exhibitions from 1725. Artistic academies were established all over Europe by the end of the 18th century, and many, like the [[Akademie der Künste]] in Berlin (founded 1696), the [[Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando]] in Madrid (founded 1744), the [[Imperial Academy of Arts]] in Saint Petersburg (1757), the [[Royal Academy]] in London (1768) and the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera]] in Milan (1776) still run art schools and hold large exhibitions, although their influence on taste greatly declined from the late 19th century.

A fundamental feature of academic discipline in the artistic academies was regular practice in making accurate drawings from antiquities, or from casts of antiquities, on the one hand, and on the other, in deriving inspiration from the other fount, the human form. Students assembled in sessions [[Figure drawing|drawing the draped and undraped human form]], and such drawings, which survive in the tens of thousands from the 17th through the 19th century, are termed {{Lang|fr|'''académies'''}} in French.

Similar institutions were often established for other arts: Rome had the [[Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia|Accademia di Santa Cecilia]] for music from 1585; Paris had the [[Académie Royale de Musique]] from 1669 and the [[Académie Royale d'Architecture]] from 1671.

====Linguistic academies====
{{main|List of language regulators}}
The [[Accademia degli Infiammati]] of [[Padova]] and the Accademia degli Umidi, soon renamed the [[Accademia Fiorentina]], of [[Florence]] were both founded in 1540, and were both initially concerned with the proper basis for literary use of the ''volgare'', or [[vernacular language]] of Italy, which would later become the [[Italian language]]. In 1582 five Florentine literati gathered and founded the {{Lang|it|[[Accademia della Crusca]]|italic=no}} to demonstrate and conserve the beauty of the Florentine vernacular tongue, modelled upon the authors of the Trecento. The main instrument to do so was the ''[[Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca]]''. The Crusca long remained a private institution, criticizing and opposing the official Accademia Fiorentina.

The first institution inspired by the Crusca was the [[Fruitbearing Society]] for German language, which existed from 1617 to 1680.

The Crusca inspired [[Cardinal Richelieu|Richelieu]] to found in 1634 the analogous {{lang|fr|[[Académie française]]|italic=no}} with the task of acting as an official authority on the [[French language]], charged with publishing the official dictionary of that language. The following year the Académie received letters patent from King [[Louis XIII]] as the only recognized academy for French language.

In its turn the state established Académie was the model for the {{lang|es|[[Real Academia Española]]}} (founded in 1713) and the [[Swedish Academy]] (1786), which are the ruling bodies of their respective languages and editors of major dictionaries. It also was the model for the [[Russian Academy]], founded in 1783, which afterwards merged into the Russian Academy of Sciences.

====Academies of sciences====
{{main|Academy of sciences}}

After the short-lived [[Academia Secretorum Naturae]] of Naples, the first academy exclusively devoted to sciences was the [[Accademia dei Lincei]] founded in 1603 in Rome, particularly focused on natural sciences.
In 1657 some students of [[Galileo]] founded the [[Accademia del Cimento]] (Academy of Experiment) in [[Florence]], focused on physics and astronomy. The foundation of academy was funded by [[Leopoldo de' Medici|Prince Leopoldo]] and [[Rulers of Tuscany|Grand Duke]] [[Ferdinando II de' Medici]]. This academy lasted after few decades.

In 1652 was founded the [[German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina|Academia Naturae Curiosorum]] by four physicians.<ref>As for instance in the monumental ''A History of Magic and Experimental Science'' by [[Lynn Thorndike]] (see [https://archive.org/details/isbn_0231087993/page/n47 <!-- pg=77 quote="Academy of the Curious as to Nature" inauthor:Thorndike. --> online]).</ref> In 1677, [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]], recognised the society and in 1687 he gave it the epithet ''Leopoldina'', with which is internationally famous.<ref name="a">[http://www.leopoldina-halle.de/broscheng.pdf Self-produced overview of the Leopoldina] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014914/http://www.leopoldina-halle.de/broscheng.pdf |date=2007-09-28 }} (accessed May 27, 2005)</ref><sup>, p.&nbsp;7–8; </sup><ref name="b">[http://www.groschenheft.de/aus_leopoldina.htm Groschenheft magazine on the Leopoldina's anniversary (German)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311200937/http://www.groschenheft.de/aus_leopoldina.htm |date=March 11, 2007 }} (accessed May 27, 2005)</ref>
So, it became the academy of sciences for the whole [[Holy Roman Empire]].

On 28 November 1660, a group of scientists from and influenced by the Invisible College (gathering approximately since 1645) met at Gresham College and announced the formation of a "College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning", which would meet weekly to discuss science and run experiments. In 1662 [[Charles II of England]] signed a [[Royal Charter]] which created the "Royal Society of London", then "Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge".

In 1666 [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert|Colbert]] gathered a small group of scholars to found a scientific society in Paris. The first 30 years of the academy's existence were relatively informal, since no statutes had as yet been laid down for the institution. In contrast to [[Royal Society]], the academy was founded as an organ of government. In 1699, [[Louis XIV]] gave the academy its first rules and named it [[Académie des sciences|Académie royale des sciences]].

Although Prussia was a member of Holy Roman Empire, in 1700 [[Prince-elector]] [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick III]] of [[Brandenburg]] founded its own [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]] upon the advice of [[Gottfried Leibniz]], who was appointed president.

During the 18th century many European kings followed and founded their own academy of sciences: in 1714 the [[Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna]], in 1724 the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]], in 1731 the [[Royal Dublin Society]], in 1735 in [[Grand duchy of Tuscany|Tuscany]], in 1739 the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]], in 1742 the [[Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters]], in 1751 the [[Göttingen Academy of Sciences]], in 1754 in [[Erfurt]], in 1759 the [[Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities]], in 1763 the [[Academia Theodoro-Palatina]] in [[Heidelberg]], in 1779 the [[Sciences Academy of Lisbon]], in 1783 the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]], in 1782 the [[Accademia dei Quaranta]] in Rome, in 1784 in [[Turin]].

This kind of academy lost importance after the university reform begun with the foundation of the [[University of Berlin]], when universities were provided with laboratories and clinics, and were charged with doing experimental research.

====Academic societies====
{{Main|Learned society}}

Academic societies or [[learned society|learned societies]] began as groups of academics who worked together or presented their work to each other. These informal groups later became organized and in many cases state-approved. Membership was restricted, usually requiring approval of the current members and often total membership was limited to a specific number. The [[Royal Society]] founded in 1660 was the first such academy. In 1720, King [[John V of Portugal]] approved the founding and gave royal patronage to the [[Lisbon Academy of Sciences|Royal Academy of Portuguese History]] which had been meeting informally, since 1717, under the sponsorship of the 4th [[Count of Ericeira]]. The [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] was begun in 1780 by many of the same people prominent in the [[American Revolution]]. Academic societies served both as a forum to present and publish academic work, the role now served by academic publishing, and as a means to sponsor research and support academics, a role they still serve. Membership in academic societies is still a matter of prestige in modern academia.

====Military academies====
At first such institutions only trained the [[Artillery]] and [[Military Engineering]] officers, like the ''Aula da Artilharia'' (founded in 1641) and the ''Aula de Fortificação'' (1647) in Lisbon, the [[Military Academy of Modena|Real Accademia di Savoia]] in Turin (opened in 1678), the [[Soviet military academies|Imperial Artillery Military Academy]] of Saint Petersburg (1698), the [[Royal Military Academy Woolwich]] (1741), the ''Real Colegio de Artilleria'' in Segovia (1764).

Starting at the end of the 16th century in the Holy Roman Empire, France, Poland and Denmark, many [[Knight academy|Knight academies]] were established to prepare the aristocratic youth for state and military service. Many of them lately turned into [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasiums]], but some of them were transformed into true military academies.

The [[Royal Danish Military Academy]] began to educate all [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] for the [[Royal Danish Army]] by request of [[Frederick IV of Denmark|King Frederick IV]] in 1713.

The [[École Militaire]] was founded by [[Louis XV]] in 1750 with the aim of creating an academic college for cadet officers from poor families. The construction began in 1752, but the school did not open until 1760.

The [[Theresian Military Academy]] was founded on 14 December 1751 by [[Maria Theresa]] of Austria. Per year the academy accepted 100 noblemen and 100 commoners to start their education there.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Theresian military academy timeline|url=http://www.bmlv.gv.at/karriere/offizier/geschichte.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806051814/http://www.bmlv.gv.at/karriere/offizier/geschichte.shtml|archive-date=2014-08-06|access-date=2016-09-08|website=|language=de}}</ref><br>
These were the model for the subsequent military academies throughout Europe, like the ''Reale Accademia Militare'' of Naples in 1787 and the [[Military Academy Karlberg]] in 1792.

==Modern use of the term ''academy''==
[[File:Athens academy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The modern [[Academy of Athens (modern)|Academy of Athens]], next to the [[University of Athens]] and the National Library forming 'the Trilogy', designed by [[Karl Friedrich Schinkel|Schinkel's]] Danish pupil [[Theophil Freiherr von Hansen|Theofil Hansen]], 1885, in [[Ionic order|Greek Ionic]], academically correct even to the polychrome sculpture]]
[[File:Univesidad Åbo Akademi.jpg|thumb|[[Åbo Akademi]], an academy building designed by [[Charles Bassi]], was built on 1833 in [[Turku]], Finland.]]

The term is used widely today to refer to anything from schools to [[Learned society|learned societies]] to [[Funding agency|funding agencies]] to private industry associations.

[[National academies]] are bodies for scientists, artists or writers that are usually state-funded and often are given the role of controlling much of the state funding for research into their areas, or other forms of funding. Some use different terms in their name – the British [[Royal Society]] for example. The membership typically comprises distinguished individuals in the relevant field, who may be elected by the other members, or appointed by the government. They are essentially not schools or colleges, though some may operate teaching arms. The {{lang|fr|[[Académie Française]]|italic=no}} was the most influential pattern for these. Finland even has two separate "academies": [[Academy of Finland]] is a government-run funding agency, Suomalainen tiedeakatemia is a learned society.

The [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]], which presents the annual [[Academy Awards]], is an example of a purely industry body using the name. College-type specialized academies include the [[Royal Academy of Music]] of the United Kingdom; the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]], New York; the [[United States Naval Academy]]; [[United States Air Force Academy]]; and the [[Australian Defence Force Academy]]. In emulation of the military academies, police in the United States are trained in [[Police academy|police academies]].

Because of the tradition of intellectual brilliance associated with this institution, many groups have chosen to use the word "academy" in their name, especially specialized tertiary educational institutions. In the early 19th century "academy" took the connotations that "[[gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]]" was acquiring in German-speaking lands, of school that was less advanced than a college (for which it might prepare students) but considerably more than elementary. Early American examples are the prestigious preparatory schools of [[Phillips Andover Academy]], [[Phillips Exeter Academy]] and [[Deerfield Academy]]. In England, "academy" had a specialized meaning for schools, but the [[Edinburgh Academy]] was more like the American examples. Academy was also used very loosely for various commercial training schools for dancing and the like.

[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] organized public subscription performances of his music in Vienna in the 1780s and 1790s, he called the [[concert]]s "academies". This usage in musical terms survives in the concert orchestra [[Academy of St Martin in the Fields]] and in the [[Brixton Academy]], a concert hall in Brixton, South London.

Academies proliferated in the 20th century until even a three-week series of lectures and discussions would be termed an "academy". In addition, the generic term "the academy" is sometimes used to refer to all of academia, which is sometimes considered a global successor to the academy of [[Athens]].

===French regional academies overseeing education===
[[File:French academies map.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|A map outlining the academies overseeing education in France]]

In France, regional academic councils called academies are responsible for supervising all aspects of education in their region. The academy regions are similar to, but not identical to, the standard French administrative regions. The rector of each academy is a revocable nominee of the Ministry of Education. These academies' main responsibility is overseeing [[Primary education|primary]] and secondary education, but public universities are in some respects also answerable to the academy for their region. However, French private universities are independent of the state and therefore independent of the regional academies.

===Russian research academies===
In [[Imperial Russia]] and [[Soviet Union]] the term "academy", or [[Academy of Sciences]] was reserved to denote a state research establishment, see [[Russian Academy of Sciences]]. The latter one still exists in Russia, although other types of academies (study and honorary) appeared as well.

===English school types===
====Tertiary education====
{{main|Dissenting academies}}
From the mid-seventeenth to the 19th centuries, educational institutions in England run by [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] groups that did not agree with the [[Church of England]] teachings were collectively known as "[[dissenting academies|the dissenting academies]]". As a place at an English public school or university generally required [[conformity]] to the Church of England, these institutions provided an alternative for those with different religious views and formed a significant part of [[education in England|England's educational system]].

[[University College London]] (UCL) was founded in 1826 as the first publicly funded English university to admit anyone regardless of religious adherence; and the [[Test and Corporation Acts]], which had imposed a wide range of restrictions on citizens who were not in conformity to the Church of England, were abolished shortly afterwards, by the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]].

====Primary and secondary education====
{{main|Academy (English school)}}
In 2000, a form of "independent state schools", called "[[Academy (English school)|academies]]", were introduced in England. They have been compared to US [[charter school]]s.<ref name="smithers">Rebecca Smithers, ''[[The Guardian]]'', July 6, 2005, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/06/schools.newschools1 "Hedge fund charity plans city academies"] </ref> They are directly funded from central government rather than through local councils, and are partly privately sponsored. Often the sponsors are from business, but some are sponsored by universities and charities. These schools have greater autonomy than schools run by the local councils. They are usually a type of secondary school, but some are "all through" schools with an integral primary school. Some of the early ones were briefly known as "city academies"—the first such school opening on 10 September 2002 at the [[Business Academy Bexley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2249188.stm|title= Academy opens doors to the future|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040628210928/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2249188.stm|archive-date=28 June 2004|work = BBC News|first = Sean|last = Coughlan |date = 10 September 2002}}</ref>

The Queen's Speech, which followed the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], included proposals for a bill to allow the Secretary of State for Education to approve schools, both Primary and Secondary, that have been graded "outstanding" by [[Ofsted]], to become academies. This was to be through a simplified streamlined process not requiring sponsors to provide capital funding.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Academies Act 2010|url=http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/academieshl.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217031235/http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/academieshl.html|archive-date=17 December 2014|access-date=17 December 2014|website=}}</ref>

In 2012, the UK government began forcing some schools which had been graded satisfactory or lower into becoming academies, unilaterally removing existing governing bodies and head teachers in some cases. An example was Downhills Primary School in Haringey, where the head teacher refused to turn the school into an academy. OFSTED were called in to assess the school, failed it, and both the head and the governing body were removed and replaced with a Government-appointed board despite opposition from the school and parents.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17385311|title=BBC News – Academy row school governors sacked by Michael Gove|newspaper=BBC News|date=15 March 2012|access-date=17 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813033727/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17385311|archive-date=13 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/9592486.Protesting_parents__disgusted__with_Downhills_governors__removal/|title=Protesting parents 'disgusted' with Downhills governors' removal|author=David Hardiman|work=Haringey Independent|date=15 March 2012 |access-date=17 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723074454/http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/9592486.Protesting_parents__disgusted__with_Downhills_governors__removal/|archive-date=23 July 2013}}</ref>

===United States===
{{more citations needed section|date=July 2025}}
{{See also|Secondary education in the United States|History of higher education in the United States}}
Prior to the twentieth century, education was not as carefully structured in the United States as it is in the twenty-first. There was not a rigid division between high school and colleges. The typical college at first included a preparatory unit, which it dropped by 1900.<ref>J. M. Opal. "Exciting Emulation: Academies and the Transformation of the Rural North, 1780s-1820s." ''Journal of American History'' 91#2 (2004), pp. 445–70. [https://doi.org/10.2307/3660707 online]</ref>

In the 1800s an academy was what later became known as a high school; in most places in the US there were no public schools above the primary level. Some older high schools, such as [[Corning Free Academy]], retained the term in their names (Corning Free Academy, later becoming a [[middle school]], closed in 2014). In 1753, Benjamin Franklin established the academy and Charitable School of the Province of Pennsylvania. In 1755, it was renamed the college and Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia. Today, it is known as the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. The [[United States Military Academy]] was formed in 1802 as a college. It never included a preparatory unit. 

The academy movement in the US in the early 19th century arose from a public sense that education in the classic disciplines needed to be extended into the new territories and states that were being formed in the new western states. Thousands of academies were started using local funds and tuition; most closed after a few years and others were established. In 1860 there were 6,415 academies in operation. When the Civil War erupted in 1861 they generally closed down temporarily; most in the South never reopened.<ref>Colin Burke, ''American collegiate populations: A test of the traditional view'' (NYU Press, 1982) table 1.20 </ref>

===Germany===
During [[the Age of Enlightenment]] in 18th-century Europe, the academy started to change in Europe. In the beginning of the 19th century [[Wilhelm von Humboldt]] not only published his philosophical paper ''On the Limits of State Action'', but also directed the educational system in [[Prussia]] for a short time. He introduced an academic system that was much more accessible to the lower classes. [[Humboldt's Ideal]] was an education based on individuality, creativity, wholeness, and versatility. Many continental European universities are still rooted in these ideas (or at least pay lip-service to them). They are, however, in contradiction to today's massive trend of specialization in academia.

==Academic personnel<!--'Academic' redirects here-->==
{{Main|Academic staff}}
{{Main listing|List of academic ranks}}
{{See also|Academic administration}}

An '''academic'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> is a person who works as a teacher or researcher at a [[university]] or other higher education institution. An academic usually holds an [[postgraduate education|advanced degree]]. The term ''[[scholar]]'' is sometimes used with equivalent meaning to that of ''academic'' and describes in general those who attain mastery in a research discipline. It has wider application, with it also being used to describe those whose occupation was research prior to organized higher education.

Academic administrators such as [[Chancellor (education)#University president|university presidents]] are not typically included in this use of the term ''academic'', although many administrators hold advanced degrees and pursue scholarly research and writing while also tending to their administrative duties.

In the [[academic ranks in the United States|United States]], the term academic is approximately synonymous with that of the job title [[professor]] although in recent decades a growing number of institutions include [[librarian]]s in the category of "academic staff".
In the [[academic ranks in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], various titles of [[list of academic ranks|academic rank]] are used, typically [[research associate]], [[research fellow]] (also senior research fellow and principal research fellow), [[lecturer]] (also senior lecturer and principal lecturer), [[reader (academic rank)|reader]], and [[professor]]. The colloquial term [[University don|don]] is sometimes substituted for teaching staff at Oxford and Cambridge.{{original research inline|date=May 2018}}

==Structure==
Academia is usually conceived as divided into ''[[academic discipline|disciplines]]'' or ''fields'' of study. These have their roots in the subjects of the medieval [[trivium (education)|trivium]] and [[quadrivium]], which provided the model for scholastic thought in the first [[Medieval university|universities in medieval Europe]].

The disciplines have been much revised, and many new disciplines have become more specialized, researching smaller and smaller areas. Because of this, ''[[Inter-disciplinary|interdisciplinary]]'' research is often prized in today's academy, though it can also be made difficult both by practical matters of administration and funding and by differing research methods of different disciplines. In fact, many new fields of study have initially been conceived as interdisciplinary, and later become specialized disciplines in their own right – a recent example is [[cognitive science]].

Most academic institutions reflect the divide of the disciplines in their [[academic administration|administrative]] structure, being divided internally into ''departments'' or ''programs'' in various fields of study. Each department is typically administered and funded separately by the academic institution, though there may be some overlap and [[Faculty (teaching staff)|faculty]] members, research and administrative staff may in some cases be shared among departments. In addition, academic institutions generally have an overall administrative structure (usually including a [[University president|president]] and several [[dean (education)|deans]]) which is controlled by no single department, discipline, or field of thought. Also, the [[tenure]] system, a major component of academic employment and research in the US, serves to ensure that academia is relatively protected from political and financial pressures on thought.

===Qualifications===
{{Main|Academic degree}}

The degree awarded for completed study is the primary academic qualification. Typically these are, in order of completion, [[associate's degree]], [[bachelor's degree]] (awarded for completion of [[undergraduate]] study), [[master's degree]], and [[doctorate]] (awarded after [[graduate school|graduate]] or [[postgraduate]] study). These are only currently being standardized in Europe as part of the [[Bologna process]], as many different degrees and standards of time to reach each are currently awarded in different countries in Europe. In most fields the majority of academic researchers and teachers have doctorates or other terminal degrees, though in some [[Professional studies|professional]] and creative fields it is common for scholars and teachers to have only master's degrees.

===Academic conferences===
{{Main|Academic conference}}
Closely related to academic publishing is the practice of bringing a number of intellectuals in a field to give talks on their research at an academic conference, often allowing for a wider audience to be exposed to their ideas.

====Nepotism====
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
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Nepotism is frequent in academia<ref>{{cite web |title=Is academic nepotism a good thing? |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/sounding-board/academic-nepotism-good-thing |website=Inside Higher Ed}}{{Self-published source|reason=This was published in the blog section, not as a news article. |date=July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nepotism in the Academy Raises Serious Questions |url=https://www.diverseeducation.com/latest-news/article/15103475/nepotism-in-the-academy-raises-serious-questions |website=Diverse: Issues In Higher Education |date=19 October 2018 }}</ref> where it is frequent for professors to have their partners, and sometimes children, hired by the same faculty in which they work.

====Town and gown====
{{Main|Town and gown}}
Universities are often culturally distinct from the towns or cities where they reside. In some cases this leads to discomfort or outright conflict between local residents and members of the university over political, economic, or other issues. Some localities in the Northeastern United States, for instance, have tried to block students from registering to vote as local residents—instead encouraging them to vote by absentee ballot at their primary residence—in order to retain control of local politics.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}} Other issues can include deep cultural and class divisions between local residents and university students. The film ''[[Breaking Away]]'' dramatizes such a conflict.

==Academic publishing==
{{Main|Academic publishing}}

===History of academic journals===
Among the earliest [[research journal]]s were the Proceedings of Meetings of the [[Royal Society]] in the 17th century. At that time, the act of publishing academic inquiry was controversial, and widely ridiculed. It was not at all unusual for a new discovery to be announced as an [[anagram]], reserving priority for the discoverer, but indecipherable for anyone not in on the secret: both [[Isaac Newton]] and [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]] used this approach. However, this method did not work well. [[Robert K. Merton]], a sociologist, found that 92 percent of cases of simultaneous discovery in the 17th century ended in dispute. The number of disputes dropped to 72 percent in the 18th century, 59 percent by the latter half of the 19th century, and 33 percent by the first half of the 20th century. The decline in contested claims for priority in research discoveries can be credited to the increasing acceptance of the publication of papers in modern academic journals.

The Royal Society was steadfast in its unpopular belief that science could only move forward through a transparent and open exchange of ideas backed by experimental evidence. Many of the experiments were ones that we would not recognize as scientific today—nor were the questions they answered. For example, when the [[George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]] was admitted as a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] on June 5, 1661, he presented the Society with a vial of powdered "[[unicorn]] horn". It was a well-accepted 'fact' that a circle of unicorn's horn would act as an invisible cage for any [[spider]]. [[Robert Hooke]], the chief experimenter of the Royal Society, emptied the Duke's vial into a circle on a table and dropped a spider in the centre of the circle. The spider promptly walked out of the circle and off the table. In its day, this was cutting-edge research.

===Current status and development===
Research journals have been so successful that the number of journals and of papers has proliferated over the past few decades, and the credo of the modern academic has become "[[publish or perish]]". Except for generalist journals such as ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' or ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', the topics covered in any single journal have tended to be narrow, and readership and citation have declined. A variety of methods for reviewing submissions exist. The most common involves initial approval by the journal, [[peer review]] by two or three researchers working in similar or closely related subjects who recommend approval or rejection as well as request error correction, clarification or additions before publishing. Controversial topics may receive additional levels of review. Journals have developed a hierarchy, partly based on reputation but also on the strictness of the review policy. More prestigious journals are more likely to receive and publish more important work. Submitters try to submit their work to the most prestigious journal likely to publish it to bolster their reputation and [[curriculum vitae]].

[[Andrew Odlyzko]], an [[academician]] with a large number of published research papers, has argued that research journals will evolve into something akin to [[Internet]] forums over the coming decade,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Odlyzko|first=Andrew M.|date=1995-01-01|title=Tragic loss or good riddance? The impending demise of traditional scholarly journals|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S107158198571004X|journal=International Journal of Human-Computer Studies|language=en|volume=42|issue=1|pages=71–122|doi=10.1006/ijhc.1995.1004|issn=1071-5819|citeseerx=10.1.1.50.97}}</ref> by extending the interactivity of current Internet [[preprint]]s. This change may open them up to a wider range of ideas, some more developed than others. Whether this will be a positive evolution remains to be seen. Some claim that forums, like markets, tend to thrive or fail based on their ability to attract talent. Some believe that highly restrictive and tightly monitored forums may be the least likely to thrive.

==Academic dress==
{{Main|Academic dress}}
[[File:phdposing.png|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Professors and newly conferred doctors of philosophy posing at a [[Worcester Polytechnic Institute]] graduation]]

Gowns have been associated with academia since the birth of the university in the 14th and 15th centuries, perhaps because most early scholars were [[priest]]s or church officials. Over time, the gowns worn by degree-holders have become standardized to some extent, although traditions in individual countries and even institutions have established a diverse range of gown styles, and some have ended the custom entirely, even for graduation ceremonies.

At some universities, such as the Universities of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], undergraduates may be required to wear gowns on formal occasions and on graduation. Undergraduate gowns are usually a shortened version of a bachelor's gown. At other universities, for example, outside the UK or US, the custom is entirely absent. Students at the University of Trinity College at the University of Toronto wear gowns to formal dinner, debates, to student government, and to many other places.

In general, in the US and UK, recipients of a bachelor's degree are entitled to wear a simple full-length robe without adornment and a [[mortarboard]] cap with a tassel. In addition, holders of a bachelor's degree may be entitled to wear a ceremonial hood at some schools. In the US, bachelor's hoods are rarely seen. Bachelor's hoods are generally smaller versions of those worn by recipients of master's and doctoral degrees.

Recipients of a master's degree in the US or UK wear a similar cap and gown but closed sleeves with slits, and usually receive a ceremonial hood that hangs down the back of the gown. In the US the hood is traditionally edged with a silk or velvet strip displaying the disciplinary color, and is lined with the university's colors.

According to The American Council on Education "six-year specialist degrees ([[Educational Specialist|Ed.S.]], etc.) and other degrees that are intermediate between the master's and the doctor's degree may have hoods specially designed (1) intermediate in length between the master's and doctor's hood, (2) with a four-inch velvet border (also intermediate between the widths of the borders of master's and doctor's hoods), and (3) with color distributed in the usual fashion and according to the usual rules. Cap tassels should be uniformly black."<ref name="ACE">{{cite web|url=http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Search&template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=10625#6-year |title=Six-Year Specialist Degrees |access-date=2006-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206113630/http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Search&template=%2FCM%2FHTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=10625 |archive-date=6 December 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Recipients of a doctoral degree tend to have the most elaborate academic dress, and hence there is the greatest diversity at this level. In the US, doctoral gowns are similar to the gowns worn by master's graduates, with the addition of velvet stripes across the sleeves and running down the front of the gown which may be tinted with the disciplinary color for the degree received. Holders of a doctoral degree may be entitled or obliged to wear ''scarlet'' (a special gown in scarlet) on high days and special occasions. While some doctoral graduates wear the mortarboard cap traditional to the lower degree levels, most wear a cap or ''Tudor bonnet'' that resembles a [[tam o'shanter (hat)|tam o'shanter]], from which a colored tassel is suspended.

In modern times, in the US and UK, gowns are normally only worn at graduation ceremonies, although some colleges still demand the wearing of academic dress on formal occasions (official banquets and other similar affairs). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was more common to see the dress worn in the classroom, a practice which has now all but disappeared. Two notable exceptions are [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and a society at [[Sewanee, The University of the South|Sewanee]], where students are required to wear formal academic dress in the examination room.

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Abstract management]]
* [[Academic acceleration]]
* [[Academic careerism]]
* [[Academic conference]]
* [[Academic dishonesty]]
* [[Academic elitism]]
* [[Academic inflation]]
* [[Academic inbreeding]]
* [[Academic mobility]]
* [[Academic paper mill]]
* [[Career and Technical Education]]
* [[:Category:Academic terminology]]
* [[Academic writing]]
* [[Academician]]
* [[Art school]]
* [[Bullying in academia]]
* [[Byzantine university]]
* [[College rivalry]]
* [[Education]]
* [[French mathematical seminars]]
* [[List of academic disciplines]]
* [[List of fields of doctoral studies]]
* [[List of honorary societies]]
* [[Learned society]]
* [[Lyceum (classical)]]
* [[Medieval university]]
* [[Medieval university (Asia)]]
* [[Proceedings]]
* [[Pseudo-scholarship]]
* [[Pseudoscience]]
* [[Research]]
* [[Scholarly article]]
* [[Scholarly method]]
* [[Scientific community]]
* [[Scientific method]]
* [[Seminar]]
* [[Sexism in academia]]
* [[Sophism]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* A. Leight DeNeef and Craufurd D. Goodwin, eds. ''The Academic's Handbook''. 2nd ed. Durham and London: [[Duke University Press]], 1995.
* Christopher J. Lucas and John W. Murry, Jr. ''New Faculty A practical Guide for Academic Beginners''. New York: Modern Language Association, 1992.
* John A. Goldsmith, John Komlosk and Penny Schine Gold. ''The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
* William Germano. ''Getting it Published: A Guide for Scholars (And Anyone Else)Serious about Serious Books''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
* Kemp, Roger L. "Town and Gown Relations: A Handbook of Best Practices", McFarland and Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, US, and London, England, UK (2013). ({{ISBN|978-0-7864-6399-2}}).

==Further reading==
{{EB1911 poster|Academies}}
{{EB1911 poster|Academy, Greek}}
* Alan Cameron, "The last days of the Academy at Athens", in ''Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society'' vol 195 (n.s. 15), 1969, pp 7–29.
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-04-19.html Gerald Bechtle, Bryn Mawr Classical Review of Rainer Thiel, ''Simplikios und das Ende der neuplatonischen Schule in Athen''. Stuttgart, 1999] {{in lang|en}}.
* John Glucker, ''Antiochus and the Late Academy'', Göttingen 1978.
* Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny, 1981. ''Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture, 1500–1900'' (New Haven: Yale University Press)

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Academia}}
* [https://www.academia.edu Academia.edu] – Online community of academic scholars. Despite the .edu ending, it is a profit-making company, not a non-profit educational establishment. (The [[.edu]] has not been allowed to be used this way since 2001; academia.edu antedates that.)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051108105420/http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Frequently_Asked_Questions3&Template=%2FCM%2FHTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=8086 An Academic costume code and an Academic ceremony guide]
*[https://eto.academy/ eto.academy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612071945/https://eto.academy/ |date=2020-06-12 }} Online community web schools
* [http://palinurus.english.ucsb.edu/BIBLIO-UNIVERSITY-history-of-university.html Bibliography on the history of the university], provided by [http://palinurus.english.ucsb.edu/ Palinurus: The Academy and the Corporation], a web site from the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]]
* [http://www.iiraj.com/ 'IIRAJ' – International Institute of Research and Journals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703215016/http://www.iiraj.com/ |date=2022-07-03 }}
* [http://www.scholares.net/ 'Magistri et Scholares' – Academic News and Resources]
* [http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2407 Plato's Academy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519222356/http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2407 |date=2011-05-19 }}, from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
* Italian Academies Database (IAD): [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/ItalianAcademies/ bl.uk/ItalianAcademies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210110319/http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/ItalianAcademies/ |date=2009-02-10 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110306084318/http://italianacademies.org/ Website of the Italian Academies 1525–1700 Project]

{{Schools}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Academies| ]]
[[Category:Academia| ]]
[[Category:Academic terminology| ]]
[[Category:School types]]