A UNIVERSITY is an institution of higher education, offering courses of study to individuals seeking specialized instruction. In the West, UNIVERSITIES were first founded in the Middle Ages, mostly in cities that had important CATHEDRALS, to study the matters of interest to church leaders. The curricula quickly expanded to include classical art, literature, and languages. The modern UNIVERSITY has become a research powerhouse in addition to being an educational institution. Experiments are conducted in a wide variety of areas, including weaponry, computers, physics, and football.
