Pieter Dhondt (1976), Ph.D. in History, K.U.Leuven, is Senior Lecturer in general history at the University of Eastern Finland. Among his recent books: Un double compromis. Enjeux et débats relatifs à l'enseignement universitaire en Belgique au XIXe siècle (Academia Press 2011) and as editor National, Nordic or European? Nineteenth-Century University Jubilees and Nordic Cooperation (Brill 2011).

"Universities are really fond of birthday parties [...] But why should historians get involved? Or even feel concerned? Is there more to expect from those celebrations than magnificent but Whiggish volumes, full of idealized remembrances and clever branding? Such are the issues at stake in this original and enlightening collection of essays edited by Pieter Dhondt.[...] In his brilliant historiographical introduction, Pieter Dhondt shows how the traditional jubilee history became more than a weapon of propaganda, with the emergence of university history as a scientific field in its own right, broadening its geographical, thematic and chronological horizons – even if this emancipation is still largely in statu nascendi. [...] their book is rewarding and useful: let us hope it paves the way to an even more independent but fully integrated university history." - Pierre Verschueren, in: The British Journal for the History of Science, 49 (2016), p. 151-152 [DOI: 10.1017/S0007087416000273]

• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSINTRODUCTION1. University history writing: more than a history of jubilees?Pieter DHONDT, University of Eastern FinlandPART I: UNIVERSITY HISTORY WRITING AS PART OF THE JUBILEE2. Two great anniversaries, two lost opportunities: Charles University in Prague, 1848 and 1948Marek ĎURČANSKÝ, Charles University in Prague and Pieter DHONDT, University of Eastern Finland3. The Royal Frederick University in Kristiania in 1911. Intellectual beacon of the North or a North Germanic provincial University?Jorunn Sem FURE, Telemark Museum4. Commitment, reserve and self-assertion. The celebration of patriotic anniversaries in Russian and German universities 1912/13Trude MAURER, University of Göttingen5. Academic ceremonies and celebrations at the Romanian University of Cluj 1919-2009Ana-Maria STAN, Babeş-Bolyai UniversityPART II: UNIVERSITY HISTORY WRITING ON THE OCCASION OF A JUBILEE6. 1968 as a turning point in Trondheim's university historyThomas BRANDT, Norwegian University of Science and Technology7. University history research at the University of LeipzigJonas FLÖTER, University of LeipzigPART III: UNIVERSITY HISTORY WRITING BEYOND THE JUBILEE8. The Humboldtian tradition. The German university transformed, 1800-1945Johan ÖSTLING, Lund University9. French academia in a prosopographic perspective: a collaborative joint projectEmmanuelle PICARD, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon10. University history writing as part of the history of educationPieter DHONDT, University of Eastern FinlandNOTES ON CONTRIBUTORSINDEX