Universities occupy an ambiguous position at the crossroads of state and society. Are we liberated by our universities or indoctrinated by them? And how would we know the difference? This course examines the role of the university—as an idea, a place, a group of people, and an institution—in global history from its origins in medieval Europe to UC Berkeley today both in inculcating ideologies and languages of state power and also in teaching students and scholars to question received wisdom. It asks students to explore the value of academic freedom in relation to other kinds of freedom (and also other social and academic values) both through assigned course readings and by means of an independent research paper into a relationship between a university and dissident of their own choosing.