Towards a Genealogy of the Concept of "Plate Glass Universities"
David M. Berry When we talk about the plateglass universities it has become commonplace to make a seemingly straightforward attribution of the term "plateglass universities" to Michael Beloff's 1968 book, itself titled Plateglass Universities . He describes the book as being researched during "two grand tours to the new campuses in the summer of 1966 and in the spring of 1967" (Beloff 1968: 10). [1] He wrote, in 1968, I had at the start to decide upon a generic term for the new universities—they will not be new for ever. None of the various caps so far tried have fitted. 'Greenfields' describes only a transient phase. 'Whitebrick', 'Whitestone', and 'Pinktile' hardly conjure up the grey or biscuit concrete massiveness of most of their buildings, and certainly not the black towers of Essex. ‘Newbridge’ is fine as far as the novelty goes, but where on earth are the bridges? Sir Edward Boyle more felicitously suggested 'Shakespe...
