Reclaiming the Spirit of Higher Education: Dr Mariam Attia and the Call for Classical Educational Renewal
Read time: 6 mins
Academic Level: Open Access
PDF Download: Download full report (Add File Block linking to hosted PDF)
Dr Mariam Attia is a resident academic at The Classical Institute and an expert in pedagogy and its implementation. With a distinguished background in educational research and teaching, she brings profound insight into the philosophical and practical dimensions of learning. Dr Attia’s work explores the intersection between classical traditions and contemporary educational challenges. Her contributions are grounded in a commitment to restoring purpose, meaning, and integrity in education.
Higher education today stands at a crossroads. Beneath the buzzwords of innovation, internationalisation, and impact lies a deep concern: what worldview governs our universities? And what is being lost in the process?
In a compelling presentation at the international conference on Modern Quality Education is the Foundation of Development at the Asia International University in Bukhara, and again at the Conference on the Rebuilding of Higher Education in Gaza hosted in Doha, Dr Mariam Attia offered a clarion call for a return to principles long buried under the weight of neoliberalism. Her intervention marks a significant academic highlight for The Classical Institute and signals a shift in the conversation about the future of education.
The Modern University: A Quantitative, Material Machine
Dr Attia's presentations echo the urgent critique of modernity articulated by thinkers like René Guénon, who once wrote that "the modern civilisation may truly be called a quantitative civilisation" – and that is simply another way of saying a material civilisation. In the present day, this worldview has seeped into the foundations of higher education.
Universities, once communities of inquiry and transformation, have become data-driven enterprises governed by metrics, audits, rankings, and financial targets. As the educational theorist Henry Giroux put it, "Neoliberalism has become the most dangerous ideology of the current historical moment." It is not neutral. It is not benign. It transforms what we teach, how we research, and most crucially, who we become in the process.
Dr Attia draws from this tradition of critique while offering something often missing: a constructive, spiritual alternative rooted in classical traditions of learning.
The Neoliberal Academy: What We Lose
Drawing on contemporary scholarship, including Edwards (2022), Ball (2012), Brew (2010), Danvers (2019), and Macfarlane (2016), Dr Attia outlined the characteristics of the neoliberal university:
Excessive accountability demands
Heavier academic workloads
Relentless competition
Increased internationalisation (often without context sensitivity)
Evident commercialisation
These trends, she argues, result in the erosion of the spiritual, the moral, the emotional, and the social dimensions of education. Collegiality – once a hallmark of university life – is now under pressure. What replaces it is a fragmented, transactional model of learning that breeds anxiety and burnout.
What’s Next?
Explore our Classical Text Series or Attend the next public lecture to engage in the renewal of higher education.
