Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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wi Q - V ' . 2 W' V av , Taylor Starr-lt Professor of German One of Harvard's most popular performers on the lecture platform is Gerald J. Holton, it , A z Charles H. Taylor Professor of Jllmlivval History Assistant Professor of Physics and of General Education in the Physical Sciences. Theodore Morrison Lecturer on English Perry G. E. Miller Professor of Ameri- Professor of Govern- can Literature Search or Writing. Their investigations have lveen extensixe and their publications frequent, as anyone who reads the Times Sunday Book Section or passes the Harvard University Press showroom on Dunster Street can attest. No one department has a monopoly on books or articles-aesthetics. politics. medieval literature-every thing is Covered. Preliminary research ineludes a study on con- sumer behavior in Puerto Rico, the role of the statesman in the United States, the development of realism in Nineteenth Century German literature, and the physical anthropology of lrislimen. The faculty spends a considerable amount of time investigating and writing. One professor, working on a twelve-volume review of philosophical trends from Plato ln Spinoza, considers ten hours of study a day, six days a week. inadequate-should Widener he if --evt Ay . ' ' r a f- fkfzflgfirfii Clyde K. A. Kluckholm Professor of Anthro- pology, Director of the Russian Research Center Morris B. Lambic ment K Samui-l A. Stouffcr Professor of Sociolo- gy, Director of Social Relations Laboratory Overton H. Taylor Lecturer on Economics G1'U b-'f' WV. Sherlnlrn Professor of English

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Regular contrihuler to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Arthur Darby Nock. Pro essor of the History of Religion, is one of the most colorful and stimu- lating lecturers in the college. 'Phil D- wfllfl l'uul D. Bartlett Professor of Philosophy' Projpssor of fjhg,,,ig1,-y W .aff 'T' -GQ . -,pi 1, in fail: Q- .4 .V ' 'T 4 ' gg i' ' , 7:1 s ff., 41 r, Y . I 1 - .-fri ' David ll. Owen Henry A. Murray Professor of llislnry Professor of Clinical Psychology f ,r2. .- . . .. , .. f-ini-. 1 '. 'V o' -' ku' 'M vI.iL,, -t ' 7 Y T54 ,: 1i': .' The backbone of every college or university is obviously its faculty. When one discusses-or cusses-the quality of a university, even in this era of overripened football, one is at the same time scrutinizing its teaching staff. Although the primary purpose of any faculty is to educate the unlearned, none limits itself to pure teaching, rather, its activities are extended into areas of research, writ- ing, and practical extra-university projects. These facets provide, in part, a measure of the faculty's worth to its students, to the administrative skeleton which calls itself the university, and directly and indirectly to the public as a whole. ln evaluating the Harvard faculty, every con- ceivable viewpoint has at one time or another been expressed. Some regard these teachers as semi- skilled workmen, each a cog in the vast assembly line of the Harvard Education Co., producing the shiny, latest model Harvardman by a secret process, Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. 1636. All kinds of native fascists, from Alan Zoll of Reducator fame, to Chicago,s biggest wind - Bertie McCormick - mentally superimpose the Hammer-and-Sickle upon the Harvard crimson. By contrast, some Com- munists envision a school for future exploiters of the masses, directed by Beacon Hill professors roll- ing in ill-ffotten millions. Krokodil, the Russian D humor magazine, claims that Harvard education U has Hffallenl into the hands of the military. We could continue indefinitely in this veing we have flicked on only a few of the lights in which the Harvard faculty has been seen. lf there is such a wide variation of opinion, what can be considered adequate criteria by which to evaluate the faculty? ln an effort to find such criteria, 316 asked the faculty. from section men to University Professors, to look at themselves, and then asked the students to look at the faculty. Underlying the questions asked was the assumption, made for the purpose of this study, that the Harvard faculty was a fine facultyfperhaps the finest existing today. Although we used this as- sumption only as a guide for interviewing, we soon found -to uobodyis surprise-myriad legitimate grounds for supporting the claim. Our results fol- low quietly. 55 if' 'Y if' 'ff' 'ff' it if if if' Froin the question 316 posed to the faculty, and from their answers and comments, there emerged a flehnite pattern of education. The elements of this pattern include the man, his writing and research, his teaching methods, and, even more important, the effects of the college administration upon each of these other elements. ln this analysis, 'fthe manv is taken as the starting pointg 'fthe teaching inanv is our objective. livcryhody interviewed is somehow involved in re- N as . .wma L

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if Aaron Copland, Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry this ya-ar, brought a reputation as one of the foremost contempo- rary composers to llill'VZll'fl, featured concerts by outstanding musicians in his Norton lectures. ups-n Sunday s. hc would lac there then. hcl. even this extreme amount of work does not detract from his tear'hingfsoinewherc there is time to give three or four lialf-courses per semester. ln addition to the time demands of rcsearcli, tht-re is the factor of intensity uf inxnlvenient. On this a scholar in early Creek religion commented: Tu understand how to understand a ldalvyloniun flevicf-. it is necessary to hc a lialnloiniaiifl The Harvard lar-lilly sr-arches deeply and f'fxlf'ttSlYf'ly in its scholarly f-llorts: thc- teaching man is not ex- 4'llIHlXf'lt' ii lf-m'licl'. llfithin rcvciit ycurs. tlir-re has rlcvclopcfl a ncn p1'oI'e-ssoi'iz1l funvlifm ln'-yvmrl investigation. guest lf'1'tI1rinu.unfl I1-an-l1inf'. tlollof uiullx. this lnnvlimn . I- . is 'wfoniniixtirug to llusliingtnnf' ll2lt'XHt'fl t'Ull- lIllPttl1'n u gr:-ut numlwr ol its Iucully lo 1+-:lr-ral 4uoxr'rmnr'nt wrpwulirms: lulmr liicflintioll. lnilitzlrx It'5f'ltlil'lI. Senate 1'mi1lriiIlc4's, llllssiun l'cs1':ir1'l1. xinml nuorc. fllso in Ihis 1'1ll4'yori frills hlLl552l1'lllIhl'll5 flow-u'nor' llwxcris use nl' sr-xr-rul incn as iulxisors. . ' 1 :-. :vgggr-:q:53?3'..1 . wr 14 , 1 A 1 x:Qg,y.,.-L .g h- , nf 4, , . , '- ' 1 'nn -31. 3, J W . -...,,....,f: . ln many instances, this severely limits the Mllying professor's teaching time. These alternative roles-as scholar and govern- ment man-do not, however, escape the attention of students here. Most men feel that these dual practices may be valuable as teaching instruments, though with some reservations and exceptions. The professors' own material is good even if it is presented in a God-awful manner, said one upper- classman. Another, an extremist, stated that too many men are great authors and scholars, but poor leachersf' A rather optimistic freshman claimed that Nprofessors' writing is much more understand- able than their lectures. There was one violently negative comment-a student who pointed to the Mprofessors' tendency to write moldy hooks and repeat them in lecturesf' ln spite of the few sharp divergences of opinion. the consensus of students regarded the teacheris own material as essential in his method of instruction. Most faculty men feel that the place of research in teaching is cardinal. They regard investigation as the essential root of high-quality instruction. ln fact, a professor of literature stated that the major responsibility of a university is scholar- ship. Another drew this analogy: MThe forest protects the tiger, while the tiger protects the forestg in combination there is powerf' Many men pointed to the value of research as a course stimulant, commenting: Research keeps the course alive . . . furnishes new material . . . keeps the course from becoming stagnantf' 'twithout re- search, teaching dries up.', E. S. Barghoorn Associate Professor of Botany