Un ateneo italiano: l'Università Cattolica e le sue sedi

This essay can be included in the branches of research on Italian academic geography and the way it changed during the post-WWII period when the economic boom took place and free access to university was introduced. Through the analysis of unpublished documentation, the author highlights the features of the “spread in territory” of Catholic University: the study of the Italian context is provided with interesting elements such as that the “spread” belonged to a large-scale project which aimed to give the word Catholic a civil meaning and national extension. In this essay, the author underlines the issues which were behind the spread of Catholic University in Italy, the broadening of its training programme, the expansion of faculties and universities which took place especially in the post-WWII period, even if it had been decided before 1945. The au¬thor focuses on the foundation of the Faculty of Medicine in Rome and the establishment of the university in Piacenza and Brescia.