大学の ｢エクセレンス｣ 概念に関する史的考察

—その思想的源流と系譜—

抄録

“Excellence” is a key concept in discussions about modern research universities. However, the perception of excellence is ambiguous. The purposes of this paper are to investigate the concept of excellence from a historical perspective and to clarify its ideological roots and trajectory. Previous studies have addressed the concept of excellence only as a subject pertaining to the debate on the education reform in the United States that took place in the 1960s and 1980s. This research presents a new historical perspective on the formation of excellence, which refers to the concept of “excellence” in universities proposed by Frederic Terman. Historical research reveals the hypothesis that excellence is a concept based on “war,” which emerges when international competitiveness is strongly sought. The three periods when the pursuit of excellence became the main theme coincided with the time when international competitiveness was threatened in the United States. International competitiveness has historically meant competitiveness in military technology, that is, a struggle that bets on the survival and dignity of the nation. In this context, the concept of excellence encompasses the search for prominence in academic research and education through university reform in modern society, and its roots are the pursuit of military competitiveness at the Center of Excellence.