St Louis University - Archive Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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for careful integration. It is true that speciali- zation alone does not suffice. The university must possess, or somehow draw into itself, minds that are capable of both specialization and generalization. The new material which is accumulated must be organized, integrated, tried out in new patterns. Anything less would leave the process of scholarship incom- plete. Amidst the ever-growing complications of modern educational methods and techniques there is a danger at times that attention will be so centered on means that they are mistaken for ends. Techniques of scholarship are not scholarship itself, but are merely its tools. Nor is the same tool suitable in all fields. It is probably true that in the past there has been too much forcing of the techniques of research developed in the natural sciences, where experiments are relatively simple — verification is usually possible and control available — into the social sciences and humanities, where con- ditions are very different. More important than this, it must never be forgotten that learning does not advance itself. It is always some man or some woman who does the advaiKing. In other words, knowl- edge advances only as those who know increase and develop. A graduate school, and above all a Catholic graduate school, can never for- get that its peculiar prerogative — the creation of the future — depends on the scholars it develops. The Graduate School is often alleged to be the leader of that harmonic orchestra of schools which comprise the University. She sounds the keynote for a thrilling arpeggio which constitutes the audible tone of the entire institution. The metaphor may be prolonged indefinitely, even to drawing parallels with the brasses and woodwinds. In fact, it often has been. And again there are some grains of truth in this assertion. This, then, is the keynote of the Graduate School, this her indication of the tone of the University. And if she but repeats that note, which she has been sounding since her birth, it is because there can be no other correct one. Indeed it has been sounded from the beginning of time, and it will be maintained until the very end. The Graduate School, thus, is an essential unit of an integrated University. Individual research, seminars and the laboratory are important factors in the work done by the Graduate School. Left — The Department of Geophysics maintains offices and laboratories in Sodality Hall. Center — The microscope is an essential instrument for students specializing in the physical sciences. Right — A Latin seminar discusses Roman religion and its effect on classical literature. 27

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CMe Cjraouaie SckooL Rev. Thurber M. Smith, S.J., Dean of the Gradu- ate Schooh With whatever modifications may arise from local conditions or traditions, a university must devote itself to the realization in appropriate ways of four major objectives: the conservation of knowledge and ideas; their interpretation and evaluation; the advancement of truth; the training of students who will carry on the struggle. Conservation of knowledge and ideas is, and always has been recognized as the business of universities, both by themselves and others. However they may change in form, this will or should remain one of their major objectives. It should be noted, however, that conservation and interpretation of accumulated intellectual treasures are one thing in institutions that are chiefly concerned with that. They are a very diiferent thing in a university where, as a result of the struggle to push back the frontiers of ignorance, fresh streams of thought are con- tinually playing upon the preserved treasures of man ' s achievements. The Graduate School shares, of course, with the other schools of the University, the duty of preserving the past and transmitting it in an ordered synthesis. But one function the Graduate School claims as its peculiar preroga- tive: the creation of the future, the gradual pushing back by research and experiment of the boundaries of ignorance. The Graduate School aims at producing an expert in a given field by means of highly spe- cialized training. It seems to be the accepted thing, at least among some, to sneer at spe- cialization; but the truth is that specialization is largely responsible for whatever gains we have made in the past. The process of advanc- ing knowledge must begin with an artificial simplification, divide et inipera, and this, not because the problems of life or of the physical world are simple, but because we cannot advance by way of observation and experiment unless the field is circumscribed. Once results are thus obtained, but only then, is there a place 26

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Walter F. Gast, Assistant to Dean of the School of Commerce and Finance; George W. Wilson, Dean; Rev. Joseph L. Davis, SJ., Regent. The School of Commerce and Finance gives the student a solid and complete foundation for high attainment in the world of business as well as a general, well-rounded, cultural background, by offering practical courses in finance, economics, marketing, accounting and management, in addition to the more generic and semi-classical studies, which are of a less technical nature. The Commerce and Finance student has the opportunity to discuss current economic and political prob- lems and other topics of a legislative nature in a definite and analytic manner. This study of business in a scientific manner has become necessary in this day of high specialization and financial complexities. To keep pace with the need for specialized study in business, St. Louis University estab- lished the School of Commerce and Finance in 1910. The success of the graduates of this School has resulted in its steady growth, and this year the number of students enrolled has exceeded the thousand mark. The program of studies has kept pace with this numerical development and covers a wide 1 -— fl 3. L h = pg H T ■ !1 C ke School of iyommerce am Lmince area of demand. Particular attention has been given to the call for instruction in important practical procedures growing out of recent government legislation, such as the Social Security Act and its complex applications, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act and its suc- cesses, and the New Deal in general. The student learns to cope with these and similar problems which he will encounter when he enters the financial world. Student activities have been in evidence in representative university fields such as sodali- ties, forensics, music, athletics and social enter- tainments. Supplementary activities, closely allied to the regular academic curriculum, have progressed quite rapidly during this ses- sion. These optional activities, mostly in the form of placement training and survey work, offer more than one hundred students oppor- tunities of great practical value. They serve as excellent practical illustrations and appli- cations of theory and principle. These surveys and placements are made in the actual field of business, some sixty large corporations 28