Recalling Academy: University Problems and Critics in Memories

The history of modern higher education in Turkey started in the Tanzimat Period with Darülfün n which had been an extraordinary development to achieve a radical modernization. Darülfün n, which had come up to the Republic Period with its own unique structure and process of ambiguity, underwent a radical transformation in 1933. Since the beginning, the basic aim of Darülfün n had been to educate “enlightened bureaucrats”. Up to now, many attempts have been made to determine and solve problems related to the areas of finance, legislation, physical conditions, manpower, infrastructure, students, and producing knowledge emerged in higher education. While some of them have been implemented, the suggestions especially coming from the dissenting academicians and thinkers have been reserved merely in memories. Many academicians, who wrote their memoirs after serving long years in universities, put forward different ideas related to the problems of university and their remedies. There have been numerous academicians who wrote their memoirs about university, as much as they affected Turkish science community with their works, views and ideas. In this paper; how the contemporary and traditional problems of the Turkish universities have been perceived, which determinations have been made, and what kind of solutions have been proposed in the memoirs of over twenty scientist, who had worked in different disciplines, have been categorically presented.