DePauw University - Mirage Yearbook (Greencastle, IN)

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-Depc21rfmenit of English Literature FRANCIS CALVIN TILDEN. Ph. B.. A. M. T is a commonplace of today that the methocls of studying science have Been revolutionizea'in the last decade. It is less I generally known hut equally true that the methods 'of studying literature have been raclically changed in recent years. There was a time. not very far hack. when even the teacher of literature in college saw in literature nothing but arts something to create pleasure more or less lasting, something to he appreciated aesthetically and emotionally. Passages were to he committed to memory: beauty offom. phrase and thought were to he recognizea: hut as a Jepartment it was loohetl upon as distinctly inferiort as far as mental training went. to history. philosophy or the classic languages. In a way this view of literature is past. Or. one might say. rather. that this view of literature has been superceded by one that is broader ancl the arts. It still has, for teacher and student, the for being. But in aadition to that heauty it is deeper. Literature is still looked upon as one of beauty that Was once considered its only excuse beginning to he realizexl that literature is hoth . , history anti philosophy: history more suhtile than that Which deals with changing constitutions. philosophy more true than theories of Kant or Hume: a history anal philosophy hased upon the thought anti emotions of nations anJ inclividuals. The teacher of literature strives to do two things. He strives first to procluce a cultivated and appreciative taste for the best things in letters. He strives further to find. What all literature surely holds, the tendencies of thought. the customs and manners. the very essence of life of the time in Which the literature was produced. Literature is no longer a reading of beautiful lines and a Blind wanclering in a realm of unscientific criticism. It is a study. requiring all the acuteness of intellect that is requirecl of history and philosophy and asking further a continual exercise of the emotional nature not demanded by the other stuclies. Q At DePauw this view 01': literature has been very popular. The Jepartment has continually increaseti. ti11,in 1903t the room used for so many years proved too small. and the clepartment was given Philo Hall. The number of courses has increased till it is now possihle to talce. in the regular classes of the Jepartment, an undergracluate major. andin acldie tion sufficient graduate Work for a. Masterhs degree. I Professor TIIlaen, the heacl of the department, gracluatecl from Depauw in 1897. The tWO years following were spent in gradnate work at Harvard University. In 1900 he was elected to chair of English Language ancl Literature at South Dakota University. In the same year he was asked to become the head of the tiepartment of English Literature at DePauW. x .,4 x41. vr-

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Departm'entof Greek REVEREND WILLIAM FLETCHER SWAHLEN. A. Mu Ph. D. EDWIN GIBSON. Assistant Notwithstanding the fact that this present age is one of extreme com- mercialism in which there is a swing of the pendulum from the stucly oi: the standard classics toward. the pursuit of scientiHc investigation and technieal knowledge which fetches the Almighty Dollarf yet the value of the classics remains as far as a factor in a weH-grounded mental development and Enished ecluc-ation. The Greek Department in DePauW University has always had its Share of the student body, sixty members being enrollexl in it for this year. Out of the present Senior Class twenty per cent. are majoring in Greek. some have maae it their minor and others have taken not less than one year of college work in the department. i The work is not requirerl for gracluation aml those who enter for it are presumecl to come out of a sincere inclination for mastery of the elements of the Greek language and literature. . The first two years. work embraces what is the hard part off: any language namely. a mastery and. an acute appreciation of syntactical relations. Similar work is pursued through the first year of the college courses with selectecl readings from Homert Herodotus ancl Thucydides. The remaining courses. of which there are nine. have to do'- with the literature of the language. The drama, hoth comedy and tragedy, and oratory aml philos- ophy are given careful and critical stucly for their great thought aml high literary excellence. our heritage from the greatest peo- ple of antiquity. a 'Dr. Swahlen is an earnest, conscientious teacher, anrl is highly respected and loved by everyone Who comes under his instruction. The influence of his life upon many young men anal women. who have sat in his class room. cannot he limited to time anti space. He has a knowledge of his work Which is so inspiring that his students are lecl anal not clriven. His educational preparation has been most roumiecl and. thorough, embracing the constructive influence of flve eclucational in- stitutions. In 1867 he was electea Professor of Greek and German in McKendree College. Leh- anon. Illinbis, and in 1873 was electeci president of the same institution. In 1887 he was chosen presiclent of Kansas Wesleyan University anti Professor of Creek in Depauw University. He accepted the latter position and enterecl upon his duty in SeptemberK 1887.

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aDepartmenthof Chemistry WILLIAM MARTIN BLANCHARD. A. Mv. Ph. D. There was a time when a man interested in chemical phenomena. with no other equipment than a black kitchen containing a, few glass tubes. some empty Bottles amt clay tobacco pipest could make discoveries that would astonish the worlcl. But those days have passed. The science of chemistry has now become so highly developecl that he who woulnl make discoveries in this field must have the most modern appliances for research. anti he given all the facilities to he founcl in an up-tOedate laboratory. When Nature first began to reveal her secrets to these inquistive chemists. anti when the laws of chemical phenomena first began to unfold themselvesK there was very little demancl for chemical instruction anti the suh- ject was slow in gaining a footholcl in the universities. The early masters of the experimental art established private lahoratories anti admitted to their sacred precincts only the most enthusiastic and the most promising students. In time the various universities opened up departments of chemistry, but even then the instruction was given only by lectures. It was not until the great Liehig set the example in Germany that the value of systematic laboratory instruction was generally recognized. Since that time chemical lahoratories have rapidly multiplied and now there is no institution of any standing that does not otter the advantages of such instructionu But a chemical department is not complete when it is supplietl with a well equippetl laboratory. It must he able to takek the student hack to the Horiginal sources, to acquaint him With the work of the. old masters. and to put him in touch with the workers of his own day. To do this, the Jepartrhent must have a chemical library. a lihrary not only supplied with the ordi- nary hooks of reference: uauthorities.n chemical dictionaries and the like. hut also containing the regular publications of the clifferent chemical societies. the journals Where the student can 'Hnd the original papers aml trace the development of any sub- ject in Which he may he interestea. uDuring the past two years the department of chemistry at Depauw has heen greatly increased in two ways. Through the gift of Mr. Minshall it has been suppliea with a modern laboratory anzl through the generosity A -.v ' of the class of 32. supplemented by other suhscriptione, it has securecl the nucleus of a splendicl library. The Iahoratory is already well equipped for thorough instruction in general. organic ancl analytical chemistry. and apparatus for aJvanced work is being adcled every year. The lihrary contains over three hunclrenl volumes. among them heing three sets of English Journals, two of German, aml the two chemical publications of our own country. The lihrary could not he duglicatecl for a thousancl dollars. It has been placed in the department as a memorial to Dr. Baker. one of the most popular teachers the University has ever haul.