Lebanon Valley College - Quittapahilla Yearbook (Annville, PA)

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FOREIGN LANGUAGES More Americans are in communication of one kind or an- other with foreign countries today than ever before. Foreign travel, residence, and study which ore almost completely subsidized are made possible through grants, fellowships, exchange plans. Junior Year Abroad arrangements, work programs, the Peace Corps, etc. The Mutual Educational and Exchange Act, signed by the President in 1961, authorizes financing of visits to foreign countries by teachers or pro- spective teachers in order to improve their language skills and to become acquainted with foreign cultures. If the visitor to a country con speak to its inhabitants in their own tongue, his experience is much more meaningful; and the fact that he has learned the language is appreciated. Mutual under- standing and esteem are furthered. The language requirement at our college is a minimal one. We are much concerned with giving our students the best possible training to meet their needs in this rapidly- shrinking world in the short time at our disposal. We believe that language is a means of communication and should be taught as such. For this reason we have adopted the audio- active approach which means that the student first hears, then speaks, and only later reads and writes the language he is studying. We have just installed a f ne laboratory which will enable the student to have many additional hours of practice in hearing and speaking. With the use of this valu- able complement to the classroom, the student can advance at his own pace and can accomplish surprising progress in speaking and understanding. We sincerely hope that our students will never say that they have studied a certain lan- guage but are unable to speak it. In our language and literature courses we are making a determined effort to acquaint the student with the cultural background of the country whose language he is learning. We know that knowledge leads to understanding, and thus we hope to make a small contribution to the great task of international understanding and to join the ranks of those who are striving for world peace. SARA ELIZABETH PIEL Seated: Soro Eliza- beth Pie[, Cn:iirman Left to Right: Mrs Frances T. Fields, Donald E, Fields, Ferenc Schwonauer, Mrs J ohanna K. Schwanauer, David T, Chestnut,

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Left to Right: Theodore D. Keller, Anna D. Faber, Jesse Matlock, Jr., ond George G. Struble, chairman. ENGLISH To be sophisticated without being cynical, to be lofty without losing the human touch, to be cosnnopolitan without being less American, to be scholarly without being pedantic, to be serious without being solemn — these are some of the items in the creed of the English Department. To attain our ends, we stand ready to recognize intellectual achievement, but we prize artistic achievement even more. We admire the man who can formulate theory, but we admire even more the man who can demonstrate in his evety-day speech and action the principles of the good life. We cultivate the life of the intellect, but we are not insensitive to the call of the heart. We teach English as a tool which, like atomic energy, men may use to attain ends, worthy or unworthy. But we also teach English as an instrument of delight, an open door through which one may pass to encounter the deepest yearnings and the highest aspirations of the human spirit. We teach students who are woefully deficient in their knowledge of gerunds and ir- regular verbs and the techniques of library research; and we also teach students who have no need for the mealy-mouthed distinctions between relatives and absolutes, between apposition and parataxis, but whose intellectual hungers are such that we have this year created a special section of freshman composi- tion where we shape custom-made shadows for their psychic caverns. To be all things to all men is not the aim of the English De- partment. Rather, we try to serve all in varying degrees of use- fulness; but our most precious droplets of wisdom are hoarded for the fit though few. As to those others, we are the Great Enigma, seen through o glass, darkly. GEORGE G. STRUBLE 19

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RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY Freedom through truth, the college motto, provides the major purpose of the academic program of each department at Lebanon Valley College. In keeping with the motto, this department aims to provide an opportunity for the study of our philosophical and religious heritage. It is felt that such study is of special importance in an age such as our own which, in carrying specialization of knowledge to on extreme, tends to ignore the whole person and his relationship to God and other men. In the study of philosophy students are encourged to de- velop interest in the most universal questions about man and his world and to philosophize for themselves. Vocationally the study of philosophy, begun in college and continued in graduate school, prepares one for a teaching career at the college and university level. Religiously, the department seeks to orient the student to o Christian world-view providing an understanding of the Scriptures and the heritage of the Christian Church as a means to this end, as well as to enhance Christian living as a dy- namic experience. This year a freshman honors section in the course in English Bible was introduced into the program of the department. Also, Carl B. Rife, a senior, was selected as a student teaching intern. Throughout the year the department staff has been meeting in an effort to evaluate the curriculum and to deter- mine what revisions will improve the courses now offered. Students majoring in this department are for the most part following a pre-theologicol program. In preparation for their continuing study on the graduate level, careful planning is made for those seeking admission to theological seminaries, church music schools, and universities. The curriculum revision IS expected to offer opportunities, within the liberal arts con- text, f or more intensive program for students who are in- terested in the expanding area of church vocations. JAMES O. BEMESDERFER Left to Right: Carl Y. Ehrhart, Chair- man; Perry J. Trout- mon; Benjamine A. Richards; James O. Bemesderfer; Mortin Foss.