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From its inception the purpose of Marischal College is fascinating. Most historical discussion has centred on its being a more seriously ‘Protestant’ alternative to the Episcopal (by which many mean crypto-Catholic) King’s College in Old Aberdeen. Unfortunately, this does not hold up to scrutiny. Founded as a civic university that catered to the sons of Aberdeen’s elite, Marischal prepared young men for careers in medicine, religion, and ‘commerce’ (broadly defined). Consequently, King’s and Marischal developed different international ‘profiles’ that reflected their diverging institutional objectives. What defined Marischal from its inception to the union of the two colleges in 1860 was its international student mobility both in students leaving Marischal for a life abroad and for those coming to Aberdeen from the far corners not only of the British imperial world but even further afield. Professor Naphy surveys the global and institutional history of Marischal College from its founding to the union of 1860. Marischal may have started as an institution for educating the children of local elites but the civic university attracted international students as an ideal destination to prepare young men for public life, which gradually elevated its reputation beyond the northeast of Scotland as an institution firmly embedded not only in Aberdeen but also the wider world.
Find the transcript online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/events/resources/index.php#panel1550
From its ancient origins in the 1495 founding of King’s College through to thriving global endeavours in 2020, the University of Aberdeen boasts a historic legacy spanning 525 years of leading and engaging with intellectual currents of the wider world. Yet quatercentenary and quincentennial memorial histories of the University of Aberdeen portray the institution from a regional and national perspective. The Aberdeen University librarian between 1894 and 1926, Peter John Anderson (1853-1926), edited the quatercentenary commemoration volume, Studies in the History of the University published by the New Spalding Club in 1906. Serving as the secretary of the New Spalding Club, Anderson sought to promote the Club’s interests in the North-East of Scotland by shedding new light on the history of the University. In celebration of the quinquennial anniversary, another brief illustrated history of the University by Jennifer Carter and Colin McLaren—Crown and Gown—published by Aberdeen University Press in 1994 succinctly surveys University achievements as historically significant in Scottish contexts. This podcast series, drawn from a forthcoming edited volume to be published by Aberdeen University Press, presents a new history of the University of Aberdeen, one that accounts for the University’s activities in the transnational and global transmission of ideas since its foundation.