Nation (university)

Student nations or simply nations (Latin: natio meaning being born^[1][2]) are regional corporations of students at a university. Once widespread across Europe in medieval times, they are now largely restricted to the ancient universities of Sweden and Finland. The students, who were all born within the same region, usually spoke the same language, and expected to be ruled by their own familiar law. The most similar comparison in the Anglo-world to the nation system is in the collegiate system of older British universities or fraternities at American universities; however, both of these comparisons are imperfect.

Examples in medieval universities

University of Paris

In the University of Paris there were the French, Normans, Picards, and the English, and later the Alemannian nation. Jean Gerson was twice elected procurator for the French natio (i.e. the French-born students at the University) in 1383 and 1384, while studying theology at Paris. Also at Paris, Germanic speakers were grouped into a single nation.^[3][4]

University of Leipzig

There were also smaller subdivisions, even cities, like Natio Misnensium^[5] for students from Meissen at the University of Leipzig, established in 1409, where other nationes were those of the Saxonum, Bavarorum, and Polonorum.[7]

Charles University

A similar division of students had been adopted at the Charles University in Prague, where from its opening in 1347 the studium generale was divided among Bohemian, Bavarian, Saxon, and Polish nations. When there was not a "natio" of a given nationality, students were assigned to another nation.

University of Bologna

At the University of Bologna, Nicolaus Copernicus in 1496 enrolled into the natio germanorum (Natio of the Germans).^[6][7][8] a privileged university organization that included German-speaking students from many regions of Europe.^[9][10]

Finland

Main article: Nations in Finnish universities

At the University of Helsinki and Aalto University School of Science and Technology, there are legally-sanctioned nations established in the mid-1600s and 1800s, respectively. Organizations termed nations at other universities are legally considered associations.

Scotland

Main article: Nations in Scottish universities

Nations exist in some of the ancient universities in Scotland, although their significance has largely been forgotten. Nations never existed at the University of Edinburgh, and were abolished at St Andrews following discussions at the Royal Commission on the Universities of Scotland, which later led to the Universities (Scotland) Acts.^[11][12] Student nations continued into modern times at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Glasgow for the specific purpose of electing a Rector of the university.

Sweden

Main article: Nations in Swedish universities

At the Swedish universities of Uppsala and Lund, a system of student nations (nationer) remains, and until the summer of 2010 each student at the university were forced to enroll in a nation. It is now voluntarily but still most of the students choose to remain members. The nations are named on regional lines, where the nations in Lund take their names from provinces and areas in southern Sweden, and those in Uppsala take their names from all over Sweden, except for the Scanian lands, the traditional catchment area for Lund, which was founded in 1666 to provide higher education for the youth in the newly-conquered areas. (Until 2010, there was a "Skånelandens nation" in Uppsala, but it had no activity, and only existed as a legal fiction for those students who did not wish to take part in the activities of the other nations.)

Traditionally, students were required to be members of the nations whose area one came from, but with one exception (Södermanland-Nerikes nation at Uppsala), this requirement is now voided. The nations are in charge of the kinds of social activities which are at other universities normally handled by the student unions, such as bars, clubs, theatre companies, orchestras, sports societies, and also some housing.

See also

• Corporation (university)
• Landsmannschaft (Studentenverbindung)

References

1. ^ Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, (1879). A Latin Dictionary. Entry for natio. Online at [1]
2. ^ Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "Nation". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nation. Retrieved 2007-11-08. .
3. ^ Miscellanea Scotica.: A Collection of Tracts Relating to the History [2]
4. ^ Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland, and of the Border Raids [3]
5. ^ Abhandlungen der sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig [4]
6. ^ Nicolaus Copernicus et al.: "Nicolaus Copernicus Gesamtausgabe. Documenta Copernicana I.: Briefe, Texte und Übersetzungen", 1996, p. 39
7. ^ Arthur Koestler, "The Sleepwalkers", 1968, p. 129
8. ^ Pierre Gassendi, Oliver Thill: "The Life of Copernicus (1473-1543)", 2002, p. 37
9. ^ "Although great importance has frequently been ascribed to this fact, it does not by any means imply that Copernicus ever considered himself to be a German. The 'nationes' of a medieval university had nothing in common with nations in the modern sense of the word. Students who were natives of Prussia and Silesia were automatically described as belonging to the Natio Germanorum. Furthmore, at Bologna, this was the 'priveleged' nation" Alexandre Koyre: Astronomical Revolution, Copernicus - Kepler - Borelli. Cornell University Press, 1973, ISBN 0-486-27095-5, 21 pp. ([5])
10. ^ "It is important to recognize, however, that the medievel Latin concept of natio, or "nation," referred to the community of feudal lords both in Germany and elsewhere, not to "the people" in the nineteenth-century democratic or nationalistic sense of the word." Lonnie Johnson: Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends. Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-19-510071-9, 23 pp. ([6])
11. ^ http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/medieval_university.pdf
12. ^ http://www.archive.org/stream/officersofmarisc00aberuoft/officersofmarisc00aberuoft_djvu.txt