Stanford University: The Campus Guide

Stanford University: The Campus Guide by David Neuman. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781568985381.

During the almost thousand-year history of universities, campuses have always been physical spaces. As we end the twentieth century, some univ- sity interactions have moved to cyberspace and the level of activity there grows at a breathtaking speed. At this stage of development, however, the university is still localized in time and space.The university as a place has found its most striking expression in the Anglo-Saxon world. Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard,William and Mary,Yale, Princeton,Virginia, and Stanford are all physical places, campuses to which students remove th- selves for a number of years.They are also places students feel connected with for the rest of their lives. For alumni, memories of their colleges or universities clearly include the physical setting and the architecture or architectures that make up the campuses. I am not aware of “exit interviews” that ask graduating seniors about “environmental influences” on their education in anything other than a metaphorical sense. On the other hand, students and alumni returning to their alma mater frequently display a feeling of “homecoming” that parallels what may be experienced on a return visit to ones hometown: famous landmarks and cozy corners trigger associations that are historical, aesthetic, personal.