University of Evansville - LinC Yearbook (Evansville, IN)

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Y examining the crudeness and simphcity of the medieval organ in comparison to the elaborate and ornate instrument of today, one can have a general image of the development of education within the humanities. The term humanities generally includes language, literature — espe- cially the classics — philosophy, and the fine arts. There was, during the Middle Ages, an absence of vernacular litera- ture and literary expression simply because few persons could write and still fewer could compose a letter. Within the continental schools of Paris and Bologna, grammar and rhetoric were in a subordinate posi- tion. Oxford, however, was revolutionary in adopting the teaching of classical Greek and Hebrew and in establishing the importance of the arts in general, an act viewed with contempt in Paris. MAGINE, then, the Parisian scholar ' s idea of the present curriculum. In his school the Latin gram- mars of Conatus and Priscian were used along with some elementary reading books. There was a manual of rhetoric, and Boethius ' manuals of logic and music. The medieval scholar never heard of penmanship, vernacular literature, or art appreciation. Texts, lectures, and conversations were in Latin. With such facilities, imagine the medieval student ' s awe of the Bodleian Li- brary at Oxford, or of the art center at Columbia with architecture, art, and drama affiliated into one institution. 8

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URING Commencement Exercises, then, today ' s student becomes a real part of the academic tra- dition by joining the faculty in the wearing of caps and gowns. Although the medieval student was the first to wear the academic gown, credit has been given to Oxford and Cambridge Uni- versities for being the apparent originators of the academic costume, because there had been no previous attempt to de- mand uniformity of style. A definite association of color with specific degrees and schools came much later, and it was not until 1895 in the United States that the symbols of the various colors were standardized. S academic interest grew in the United States, a movement began on the part of the students to create some kind of a badge of distinction. Credit for stabilizing this symbolism is largely due to Gardner Cotrell Leonard of Albany, New York. In 1883 the students at Williams College used academic costum e for the first time; and in 1887, Leonard designed gowns for his class at that college and had them executed by Cotrell and Leonard, a firm established by the family in Albany, New York. Under a charter granted in 1895, Cotrell and Leon- ard acts as sole Depositary for the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume, and maintains a register of colors and other pertinent data regarding correct academic regalia. 7

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NOWLEDGE being limited to the seven liberal arts during the early Middle Ages, there was no need for universities. There were simply the bare elements of grammar, rhetoric, logic, and a few vague notions of arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music. Between 1100 and 1200, the influence of the ancients — Aristotle, Euclid, and Ptolemy — aided the development of the bare elements into what became the bases for university courses. This new knowledge burst the bonds of the cathedral and monastery schools and created the learned profes- sions. Schools formed, and eager youths began gathering to listen to the learned masters. It was the learned masters, then, who founded the schools, for the students traveled miles to be with a famous master. RAM MAR, rhetoric, and logic were grouped into what was known as the trivium. Arithmetic, as- tronomy, geometry, and music were known as the quadrivium. Textbooks, although expensive and often difficult to find at any price, were followed precisely. No arguments were at first voiced against any of the great authors. Original think- ing was not encouraged. The Chancellor ' s examination, comparable to today ' s master thesis, was voluntary. When one felt he was ready to attempt the examination, he made arrangements with the Chancellor, who was the official chief administrator of the university. It is difficult for one to accept today the term education as it was applied to the bare and sometimes mistaken facts which completed medieval schooling. The medieval schools had no libraries, laboratories, or mu- seums. There were no catalogues. There were no boards of trustees. As course of studies, athletics, sociology, journalism, and dramatics were nonexistent. The universities simply grew where the student and masters gathered. The glory of the medieval university, says Rashdall, was the consecreation of Learning, and that glory and vision have not yet perished from Western civilization. The medieval university it has been said, was the school of the modern spirit. It follows, then, that the ancient courses sparked the beginning of modern technology. N the colonial period, the modern spirit was brought from the English universities to the United States. On Harvard ' s west gate is noted the following inscription : After God had carried us safe to New England, and wee had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our liveli- hood, rear ' d convenient places for God ' s worship, and seded (sic.) the Civil Government: One of the next things wee longed for, and looked after was to advance Learning and perpetuate it to Posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches when our present Ministers shall lie in the Dust. 9