University of Evansville - LinC Yearbook (Evansville, IN)

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ISTORY and geography are the only ancient courses included in what is now known as social sciences. Such scholars as Herodotus, Eratosthenes, Aristotle, and Starbo are sometimes considered to be the founding fathers of geography. It was Aris- totle whom the medieval scholars studied, al- though by 985 Eric the Red had reached Green- land, and by 1000 Vineland (probably North America) was reached. But the medieval scholar studied geography and history only as it in- filtrated into other areas. Geography courses today tend to be quite specialized, and the geographer now tends to concentrate on small fields of specialization to develop in detail the scientific side of geog- raphy, rather than the important social science field. Geography, as a social science, is useful in promoting the co-ordination of the social sciences, and thus developes understanding of the relationships of man to man. OME courses now prescribed as social sciences are quite new. Psychology, sociology, and their vari- ous specialized fields are currently being de- veloped as extensive courses. Such courses foster tolerance and closer neighborliness. More signifi- cant, however, is the attempt to help the individual with his mental problems. The intri- cacies involved in the human mind are not yet completely revealed; but compared with the knowledge of the medieval student concerning the human brain, modern science has covered a miraculously extensive frontier.

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CCORDING to a medieval belief, Faith precedes science, fixes its boundaries, and prescribes its conditions. Great thinkers, such as Roger Ba- con, tried to change that attitude. A friar. Bacon was a disciple of Robert Grosseteste, a liberal and comprehensive intellect, a champion of liberty. At Oxford he taught the formation of the uni- verse in scientific, not theological, terms. He studied the movements of the planets, the theories of colors, tides, perspectives, rainbow, heat, and light. Grosseteste caused Bacon to consider mathematics and the study of language the principal door of knowledge. OGER Bacon was the first commercial scientist. He delved into the mysteries of alchemy. His labo- ratory was a thing of suspicion to the other friars — its evil smells and peculiar instruments seemed to smack of the devil. He was interested in the practical value of research and would have ad- mired the United States Governmental contract with nine Eastern institutions for nuclear research at the Brookhaven National Laboratories. With the equipment found in modern labora- tories such as the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, Bacon would doubtless have been an Edison, Bell, or Marconi, rather than an Ein- stein, Hertz, or Euler. Instead, however. Bacon had only such crude preparation as was available in basic theories by Boethius, Bede, Ptol- emy, Euclid, and Adalbert of Bath. 11

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HE teaching of social sciences in modern schools is greatly enlivened by means of visual aids. As taught in many schools, social studies offer com- prehensive experience far beyond the confines of older curricula in this field, increasing the stu- dents ' understanding of peoples and regions. As a technological aspect. Harvard concerns itself with audio-visual facilitating to specifically supply the needs of social studies instruction. Audio-visual aids have become so common that there is little thought of the extreme advantages one enjoys with their use. The medieval classroom was a bare room, often some old dining hall rented by the master, and certainly had no facilities for any kind of audio-visual aids. If the master was artistically inclined, he might have a crude map or illustration. Books were not illustrated because they were copied by hand by poor students or clergymen. The result was, then, that the master ' s ability to present his lecture was the only means by which the student could grasp the idea. The master was rated according to how well he lectured, and only the better ones found their rooms filled. The students sat on the floor at their master ' s feet. Such a position placed the master in a position to be respected and almost held in awe as a kind of demigod. ACH pupil was, during the Middle Ages, a poten- tial teacher; and naturally, after a ' hile, teach- ers became more than plentiful. Teachers began to advertise and solicit business. The older ones banded together to safeguard their rights. The Chancellor, as chief administrator of the univer- sity, proved to be a common enemy. Only he could confer the coveted license to teach; it was an arbitrary right, to be granted or revoked as he saw fit. The masters rebelled. They refused to recognize unqualified masters to whom the Chancellor had given a license, and the slander ruined the new members. A revolt arose which actually developed into a kind of bloody war until finally the Papal Legate in 1246 granted the Chancellor ' s seal to the University as a whole. FTEN the students and masters banded together to protect their rights from the citizens of the uni- versity town. Violence often resulted if their wishes were not met. When compared whh the present Student Government Associations which co-operate with the faculty and vice-versa, the medieval customs seem quite barbaric. Student- faculty relationships are encouraged to be friendly and reciprocal. Al- though the student holds the faculty member in respect, it is recognized by all that when the student marches across the platform on com- mencement evening to receive the traditional diploma, dressed in the traditional academic costume, he is marching in to join the faculty in a long tradition of Western education — a tradition which began in the Middle Ages when the student confined himself to the cloisters of the monastery and studied with the clergy. Education has had many changes since then, but it was they who sparked the modern spirit.