Masarykova univerzita v Brně. Příběh vzdělání a vědy ve střední Evropě

Lukáš Fasora, Jiří Hanuš

From the perspective of research into the history of universities and higher education in the twentieth century, Masaryk University represents a highly compelling case. Its historical story is a long sequence of efforts to secure recognition of its right to exist, a struggle to maintain the continuity of scholarly research, and a confrontation with the adverse conditions imposed by undemocratic regimes. At the same time, it testifies to the unwavering determination of university staff to overcome hardship and difficult periods, as well as to the ideals and ethos that underpin the European university tradition.

The book pursues two equally important aims: to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the university’s founding and to open a discussion on the traditions, conditions, and future prospects of university education in the context of modern Czech history. It therefore seeks to address a broad readership connected with Masaryk University, Brno, and Moravia, and to recall—on the occasion of the anniversary—both the celebrated and the darker chapters of the alma mater’s past. At the same time, the authors aim to contribute to a scholarly debate that has thus far taken place largely outside the domestic academic sphere, concerning the role of the university in society and the transformations of science, higher education, and university culture within the highly dramatic twentieth‑century Czech and European history, profoundly marked by totalitarian ideologies.