Description
Book SynopsisEnlightened Oxford aims to discern, establish, and clarify the multiplicity of connections between the University of Oxford, its members, and the world outside; to offer readers a fresh, contextualised sense of the University''s role in the state, in society, and in relation to other institutions between the Williamite Revolution and the first decade of the nineteenth century, the era loosely describable (though not without much qualification) as England''s ancien regime.Nigel Aston asks where Oxford fitted in to the broader social and cultural picture of the time, locating the University''s importance in Church and state, and pondering its place as an institution that upheld religious entitlement in an ever-shifting intellectual world where national and confessional boundaries were under scrutiny. Enlightened Oxford is less an inside history than a consideration of an institutional presence and its place in the life of the country and further afield. While admitting the degree of corp
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Fame, Form, and Function: the University's place and purpose in the long eighteenth century Intellectual Presence 2: Oxford and British academic contexts after the Glorious Revolution 3: The defence of the Church of England and Christian belief 4: Oxford and the Arts and Humanities 5: Oxford and contemporary science: anxiety, adaptation, and advance Institutional Presence and Interactions 6: University personnel: offices, influence, and the polity 7: Oxford and the Crown 8: Oxford, the world of Westminster, and the defence of the University's interests 9: Beyond the University: Outreach and connections in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland Cultural Constructions, Connections, and Tensions 10: The University as seen from outside 11: Oxford and the wider world: the European connections and imperial involvements of the University 12: Insider trading: family, friendship, connection, and culture beyond the University Conclusion: Oxford variations on an Enlightenment theme
