Northwestern University - Syllabus Yearbook (Evanston, IL)

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Professors On Te aching and Northwestern The articles that follow are excerpts from longer converstaions between the SYLLABUS staff and ten Northwestern professors.

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THE TRAGICAL H I S TORIE OF THE DAMNABLE LIFE, AND DESEf VED DEATH OF DOCTOR. Based Tnosl loosely on the pJay ty tKe Eng lishriiin Chn MAJHOV JS Newkr prodvced,anJ in conuctiieni places, amiably amended and extended bvIVof MENO SPANN Dr of German Letterj anJ Puppet- PK.jMced ty spATvjv ' s ?vrpBT TumrRE F»»k H lljNortliwertern University, s.+vrday S«„day, ;Vfy . iJ, 9 y ,t 8 o ' cJockP «. Price of Admission: Soul Meno Spann Retired Professor of German The purpose of all education is to develop human potential; and that is the essence of all humanism. Human potential is not only the acquisition of a tremendous amount of information, or only the sharpening of one ' s logical powers. It is also the dev- elopment of one ' s character qualities. If it is possible at all, a man has to combine his intelligence with a certain concern for men, for his fellow men as such. And that ' s very difficult to do. The big question about building character is of course whether education can make better men. It can definitely make better minds. But whether one can educate better men, is questionable. I think that what one needs is examples. Today the fault is always given to some institution. When the revolution comes, all that will change ; as if somewhere there were a human god, a human elite, that could pull mankind out of the mud in which it is stuck right now — definitely stuck. I think it depends on the human beings, and not so much on the institutions. Moreover, the history of revolutions has taught us that you usually exchange another tyrant for the one you had. And, in the end, mankind suffers again. So, I ' m afraid that the university cannot do what the civilization does not do. If civili- zation is sick, the university will be sick, and the young revolutionaries will also be sick. That cannot be helped. To become a Homo Homonio — that means a man who has better developed his human potential within him — this, I think, is a grand idea; and is of course the core of the university. The university is not so much a professional school; it is that too, of course — you learn to become an engineer or a doctor — but it is, at its core, still a humanist institution. That means a place where humanities are taught; a place