Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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STUDENT, teacher, scholar, and administrator, C. Peter Magrath is the complete professor. He is a stu- dent in the wider sense, taking a broad historical approach to his field of political science and applying it to his specialty, constitutional development. As a tecacher he conducts one of the most highly praised courses in the University, American Constitutional Politics. His lectures are polished, detailed, exciting, and witty. Professor Magrath radiates his pleasure in teaching, especially to Pembrokers, whom he con- siders pretty, intelligent, and charming. As a schol- ar, he soon hopes to publish his second major book, Yazoo: Law and Politics in the New Republic. Dr. Magrath's role as Associate Dean of the Gradu- ate School occupies an increasingly large portion of his time. Although he has not moved his office from the comfortable confines of Prospect's basement to symbolic UH, Professor Magrath's attitudes on many topics are those of a seasoned administrator. He berates those undergraduates who take a parochial attitude toward the graduate school and those who do not try to understand it. Brown's graduate school, he says, is integrally related to the student's educa- tion, especially since four fifths of the senior class plan to go to graduate schools. Grad students are living with us, are in our classes, teach us, and grade us; it behooves undergraduates to come to know them. With Dean Magrath in command, we can look forward to a growth in the mutual respect and un- derstanding of Brown men and Brown's graduate students. GOOD FIELD-NO HIT, Forrest McDonald abandoned his hopes of being a big time baseball player and wound up as a major league historian. As an undergraduate at the University of Texas, he studied the sports pages of The New York Times from 1900 to 1944 and gained an exhaustive knowledge of baseball. After a hitch in the navy and a start at writing fiction, he realized that the major concern of his early life was historyif only of baseball. His efforts from that point centered on American history. Says Professor McDonald, I plunged in with demonic energyand here I am. He is the author of five books, the most recent being E Pluribus Unwm, the next for his course, The Formation of the American Republic. Dr. McDonald is known for his unique classroom manner, which combines wit and informality with an almost omniscient grasp of his subject. His desire in teaching is to jar students loose from the cliches they have clung to, agitate their minds, and disci- pline them to be able to think freely Professor McDonald notes that an occupational hazard of historians is to confuse what they are saying with real history. To cover 3 million pecople for a 20 year period is tough enough: he shudders at the thought of teach- ing the history of Western Europe in thirty weeks In 1964 Professor McDonald became involved with the Gold- water forces in Rhode Island. His motivation, though, was more curiosity than political fervor. Personally, he claims to be devoid of partisan feelings and emotional involvement. He regards politics as this nation's number one spectator sport although football gives it a good battle. To participate in it is not only a lot of fun but a chance for the historian to set the present in political perspective and relate it to America's past. Professor McDonald knows how to get the most worth out of whatever he is doing, and the students in his class are sure to share in the experience.

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LEAFING through a mound of departmental paperwork, Professor Elmer E. Cornwell, Jr. smiled and explained that chairing a growing political science department is a time-consuming job, but somebody has to do it. He is grateful, however, that the University has abandoned its policy of life chairmanships because the work involved interferes with a professor's teaching and research. In the case of Dr. Cornwell the interference is not evident. He has found time to teach two popular undergraduate courses each semester and to publish, in January, 1965, Presidential Leadership of Public Opinion. Since joining the Brown faculty in 1955 as an assistant professor, he has seen the political science department grow from 25 students and a few professors to its present size of 60 to 70 concentrators. The high turnover of faculty which characterized the early years has been reduced to almost nil by the excellent hiring practices of Professor Cornwell and his im- mediate predecessor, Professor Dodge. Dr. Cornwell denies that recent developments in the sciences have caused it to outstrip the humanities during President Keeney's tenure. He points to the university professors in the departments of history, religious studies, and political science. The Chinese Center, summer stipend pro- grams, and additional funds for the humanities and social studies have all come about under President Keeney. The political science department hopes to establish a center for political leadership in the near future. In the next two or three years, at the end of his tenure as department chairman, Professor Cornwell plans to take a sabbatical leave in England to study the British Prime Ministership on lines roughly paralleling those he followed in his study of the American President. If past performance is any indication, we can expect a book valuable to the scholar, the student, and the general public. A SEMINAR by candlelight held during the November 9 power failure exemplifies the devotion to his profession of William McLoughlin, Pro- fessor of History. For the last three years he has taught a most provocative and challenging course, The Social and Intellectual History of the United States. Every one of his lectures is a comprehensive discourse on a topic, including some facts but mostly historical concepts and personal and scholarly interpretations. Despite an extensive list of required reading, his course continues to draw increasing numbers of undergraduatesas well as many grad studentswho are willing to devote the time and effort necessary to make the course as intellectually rewarding as possible. Dr. McLoughlin has centered the majority of his historical research on subjects related to the history of religion in America; he offers a bi-annual course and yearly seminar in that area. Completed early this year was a history of the separation of Church and State in New England. A biography of Baptist preacher and Brown trustee Isaac Backus is soon to be published by Litdle Brown An anthology of Backus's pamphlets is now being pre- pared for the John Harvard Library. Most important in the series of books on Backus, 4 long neglected champion of religious liberty, is the beginning of a major project financed in part by Brown and in part by the National Historical Archives Commission. Over the next ten vears, if all goes as planned, the Brown University Press will publish ten volumes of the Backus papers, collected and edited by Professor McLoughlin Somewhere among the wealth of historical materials in Dr. McLoughlin's office is the beginning of a textbook for 8th graders on the history of religion in America. The professor remarks, Scholars have an obligation to write for students in the primary and secondary schools, not only for other scholars A man of great learning, dedication, and the highest principles, William McLoughlin takes more than his share in the task of educating for excellence.

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CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL in background, Associate Professor Lewis P. Lipsitt is now leading Brown's internationally known department of psy- chology into an extensive exploration of the general area of experimental child psychology and child de- velopment. This fall he announced the findings of a study which demonstrates how learning can take place in infants as early as one day after birth. Al- though psychology is a young science, the professor observes that our culture is coming to realize that it may even be the most important science. He cites the serious problems of mental illness, mental retarda- tion, and the threat of human annihilation from psychological causes-our inability to negotiate ver- bally, to make social concessions, and our propensity for losing control at the peace-talk table. Dr. Lipsitt notes that President Keeney has shown a considerable interest and remarkable insight in the area of child and adolescent development, and that he was a main force in the institution of Brown's summer program for under-achievers. With the help of Dr. Keeney, the department has expanded its grad- uate training program in child psychology, supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, in which one third of the psychology graduate students are ac- tively involved. Under the direction of Dr. Lipsitt, honors undergraduates, NSF undergraduate research participants, graduate students, and faculty members research in the areas of infant learning and percep- tual processes of infants and children. In addition, undergraduates, such as those in Professor Lipsitt's course in methods of child psychology, make regular visits to Brown's various community laboratories. Brown can be duly proud to have as energetic and dedicated a professor as Dr. Lipsitt to aid in the study of the problems of child psychology. A PROFUSION of books strikes the visitor entering the quarters of Diman House's resident fellow. Numerous volumes line the walls; all appear to have been well read. Living among these catalogs of knowledge is J. William Hunt, Assistant Professor of English. The fall of 1963 saw Mr. Hunt's arrival at Brown, and he brought impressive credentials with him. After obtaining his A.B. and M.A. in philosophy from Fordham, this scholar pro- ceeded to earn another ML.A., in classics, from Georgetown Uni- versity. Four additional years of study brought, in 1963, a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Yale. While working toward these degrees he studied German at WOCILA, iindn Al Besancon in France, and taught at Georgetown, Yale, and Con- necticut College for Women, among other schools. At Brown Mr. Hunt teaches a variety of English courses, as well as an exceptional seminar, The Classical and Renaissance Epic. His interest in his students is great, and the ones he has met here, both while teaching and in his capacity as resident fellow, have impressed this intense young man favorably. He feels that the majority of them are truly seeking an honest, liberal education, with dedication and seriousness. As for his colleagues, Mr. Hunt believes Brown is exceptional in its spirit of cooperation among the various professors. A mini- mum of rivalry and impersonal treatment makes contact be- tween members of the faculty easy, bringing them near to the achievement of an ideal-a true community of scholars.