Academy
From Encyclopædia
An academy is an association dedicated to learning and the arts. It may be a learned society, a professional body, an institution for specialized instruction in a particular subject, or even a high school.The original Academy was a school founded (387 BC) near Athens by
Plato to embody a new educational idea.
Plato planned to have a single center for
teaching and research that would bring together experts in all branches of learning and that would include younger scholars to give continuity to its work.
mathematics, astronomy, and legislation were three areas in which the Academy became distinguished. The school had a library, a residential building, and a garden. Tradition held that, long ago, the garden had been owned by Akademus, a local hero of the
Trojan War. His former garden, or olive grove, was therefore called akademia before
Plato established his Academy there. In addition to
Plato, the mathematician Eudoxus of
Cnidus was a senior member; younger academicians included
Aristotle, Xenocrates, and Speusippus. The Academy continued as a center of learning until it was closed by the
emperor Justinian in AD 529. It is the direct ancestor of all later Western colleges and universities.Several academies of poets and artists thrived in France and
Italy in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Accademia Platonica, founded in
Florence during the 1440s, was the most famous of the
Renaissance academies. It stressed the study of
Plato's works, the purification of the Italian
language, and the study of Dante.The ACADEMIE FRANCAISE, chartered in 1635 and still operating today, was established to render the French
language "pure, eloquent, and capable of treating the arts and
sciences." Other academies, such as the British ROYAL SOCIETY, chartered in 1662, encouraged the
growth of experimental
science through discussion and occasional sponsorship of scientific projects. Academies of
painting and sculpture became common in
Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.In colonial
America, "academies" were established in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and the Southern states to educate the middle classes in useful skills as well as academic subjects. The word has regained its professional and artistic connotations in modern
America without losing the technical overtones of the schools. Perhaps the best-known of the professional institutions is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
sciences, which annually gives
Academy Awards, or Oscars, to outstanding motion pictures, performers, and technicians.
