University of Kentucky - Kentuckian Yearbook (Lexington, KY)

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The Arts Courses Year by year more and more diplomas are issued to graduates of what is some- times known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the result being that outsiders are apt to suppose there is little room for anything else. This is more than an Agricultural and Mechanical College, it is the State College. Now all intelligent people are aware that the Arts course is very much older than any other collegiate course, and there is no degree more honorable than that of A. B. or A. M. Degrees, such as are now given in our colleges and universities, probably originated in Europe about the eleventh century. In the eighth century the circle of the seven liberal arts was divided into the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy). These varied somewhat afterwards; but medicine, theology and law were always held distinct from the arts. The degrees both of Bachelor and Master of Arts were conferred at Oxford in the time of Henry VIII., and the degree of Master of Arts was conferred probably much earlier. Degrees in arts came into use in the eleveneth century, in law a century later, in medicine about the fourteenth century, and in music in 1463. Degrees in agriculture, pedagogy and engineering are modern. There are five excellent reasons why a young man or woman of intelligence should choose the Arts, locally known as the Classical Course. In the first place the degree in Arts is the oldest and most honorable in existence. Secondly, it rep- resents a broad and liberal education rather than a narrow or professional one. Thirdly, the Arts Course is the only efficient introduction to the learned professions. Fourthly, it affords the best general culture to all students who intend to be jour- nalists, commercial men librarians, teaphers, preachers, lawyers or physicians. The man who knows little or nothing outside of his daily calling cannot claim culture. Fifthly the Arts Course is by long odds the most popular in all countries. According to the report of Dr. Harris there were in the United States more students taking'a classical course than there were in all other courses put together. Of all the colleges in Kentucky the State College is the only one that is free from sectarian limitations, and its breadth of policy is nowhere better reflected than in the Arts or Classical Course. In the short space of four years (sometimes three) the Arts Faculty have the enterprise to instruct their students in an encyclopedic- list of subjects comprising Latin, Greek, English, Anglo-Saxon, French, German. Sanskrit, Comparative Philology, Mathematics, Logic, Metaphysics, Ethics, His- tory, Political Economy, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology and Physiology.. To give free scope to the bent of each student there are several elec- tives in this formidable list. Moreover, the student may choose English or Latin and Greek as his major study. The Arts Courses offered at State College are not surpassed by any in the State; indeed, it is notorious that the candidates we re- ject at our Entrance examinations are readily accepted by other scholastic institu- tions that claim equal standing. In short, if any young Kentuckian desires a first- class training in the liberal arts, he should observe: First, that State College offers a greater variety of studies than any other in the State; secondly, its facilities for instruction are unquestionably greater than those of any rival institution. The ordinary catalogue gives all the necessary details to prospective students so that it is needless to recount them here. The Dean of the Arts Faculty is Prof. Neville, who occupies the chair of Latin and Greek and is ably assisted by Prof. Blanton. In spite of the innocuous eccentricities of genius it is self-evident that a gentleman who can translate Macaulay's essays into Latin prose worthy of Livy or Sallust is more than qualified to lead the blind by a way that they know not and to cast the mantle of a profound classic culture over the shoulders of the unsophis- ticated young ladies and gentlemen who are privileged to sit at his feet. There is a tendency in some quarters to regard the Arts Course as rather un- practical whereas with the assistance of the preceptors the Arts graduates have sel- dom experienced any difficulty in securing lucrative positions to which their tastes inclined and for which their talents fitted them.

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Department of Pedagogy Since Kentucky has no Normal School for whites, the State College must, un- der the law of its charter, provide the work of a Normal School “for teachers and those preparing to teach.” This provision is made in the subfreshman courses of the Department of Peda- gogy. Here the aim is specifically: (1) To prepare the student for examination by the County and State Boards. (2) To instruct him in the best forms and pro- cesses of school organization and government. (3) To illustrate the most rational and successful methods of teaching the various school subjects. From these courses have gone out some very successful teachers into the public schools of Kentucky. Many students from the other Departments of the College have, just previous to their graduation, availed themselves of the work offered in the course in General Pedagogy, and have been enabled thereby to take up the work of teaching in schools of high grade. Many of those who have completed the County Certificate or State Certificate Course are now County Superintendents, County Examiners, or in charge of the best schools in their respective localities. As a result the Normal School of the State College reaches and favorably affects the very sources to which the college must look for its supply of students. For this reason the Normal School should be carefully fostered by the State and the college authorities, and its work made yearly more efficient. In 1893, in consequence of a strong demand for such work, the Department of Pedagogy organized a full collegiate course of four years, co-ordinate, in rank and in the character of work done with the other courses in the college, and leading to the distinctively professional degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy. Tn this course pedagogy is begun in the last term of the Sophomore year, and is carried through the remaining two years. The other work of the course is made up from the best subjects in the classical and scientific courses, and thus the Peda- gogy Course is not only an excellent professional course, but is also cultural in a high degree in the old sense of the term. Many young men and women have recognized its value in both respects, and have availed themselves of its training and discipline. Last year there were eight graduates ,and they are now actively employed either in doing some important share of the world’s work or in continuing their studies in graduate courses.

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School of Mining Engineering e that is free reflected than etimes three) encyclopedic iclf| German, Ethics, His- Zoology and several elec- lish or Latin fllege are not idates we re- las tic institu- .esires a first- College offers facilities for on. stive students culty is Prof, fled by Prof, -evident that aflhy of Livy mow not and the unsophis- :t. as rather un- ites have sel- i their tastes This department, the youngest of the three engineering schools of State Col- lege, was established in 1901, under an act of the General Assembly of 1898. It was’opened for the reception of students at the beginning of the present session, 1902-’03. Prof. Charles J. Norwood is Dean of the school, and fills the chair of Mining Engineering. Under the law the Dean is also State Inspector of Mines, and Curator of the State Geological Department, hence the school is in close touch with the mining interests of the State. The course is laid out with the design of affording the student a thoroughly good foundation for professional work in Min- ing Metallurgy and Geology. Not only is he made acquainted with the methods of mining and mine management in particular, but he receives such instruction in mechanical, electrical and civil engineering as the needs of the modern mining en- gineer require. The schedule of studies for the past two years is, upon the whole, closely similar to those followed during the same years in the Mechanical En- gineering and Civil Engineering courses. Instruction in Chemistry and Metal- lurgy which begins with the Sophomore year, is carried through the Junior year and into the Senior year. Three terms are given to the study of Geology, especial attention being given to the application of geological methods of mining problems. Among the subjects included in the technical instruction given in the Junior and Senior years, in addition to Mining (both coal and metal) in its various particulars are the following: Mineralogy, Economic Geology, Metallurgy, As- saving Chemical Analysis, Electro-Dynamic Machinery, Electrical Appliances, Electricity Applied to Mining Operations, the Steam Engine, Compressed Air, Mine Surveying, and Hydraulics. Eor the benefit of mine foremen and others who desire to broaden the knowledge they have gained through practical experience, by a study of some of the scientific principles upon which mining practices are based, a “Short Course in Mining” is projected. It is the belief of the Dean of this Department that the practical application of principles should be as fully illustrated as the limitations of college instruction will permit. It is also felt that the school should be made of direct value to the mining interests of the State. With this in view, therefore, the equipment project of the Mining Laboratory includes the installation of such an ore dressing and coal washing plant as will permit work to be conducted along practical lines. It is intended, in fact, that the Mining Laboratory shall not only serve the purposes of instruction, but that it shall prove helpful, as a testing laboratory, to those engaged in mining operations in the coal, lead, zinc, and spar districts of the State. In order, for example, that problems relating to the concentration of lead and zinc ores (recognized among mining men as especially difficult problems with respect to Kentucky ores) may be worked out in such a way as to be of practical valuue, a standard, full-sized concentrating table has been purchased, as part of the equip- ment, instead of the smaller experimental table usually used for purposes of in- struction. The State College is exceptionally well situated with reference to the practi- cal study of both coal and metal mining, and for the study of metallurgical prac- tice in certain lines, there being within the State numerous coal and metal mines, and several metallurgical • establishments within easy reach of Lexington. On either side are the two gTeat coal fields of the State, where may be found some of the largest and most modernly equipped mining plants in the country. There the student may study not only the various methods of excavating mines of coal, whether in flat or pitching seams, whether reached by shaft, drift or slope, but he may see machine mining (electric and compressed air), rope haulage, electric haul- age, compressed air haulage, types of the various and best forms of ventilating ap- pliances, etc., etc. To see metal mining he has but to visit the lead, zinc and spar mines of Central and Western Kentucky, and the iron mines of Bath county, of the Cumberland Gap region and of the Cumberland river district (the birthplace of the Bessemer steel process) in the Western part of the State. For the study of metallurgical practice, he may, as regards iron making, visit the great iron and steel plants at Ashland, and those at Grand Rivers, at Paducah, and at Middles- boro, all in Kentucky and within a few hours’ ride from Lexington: while for ore- dressing and concentration he may visit the various plants in the Kentucky lead and zinc districts. Large coking plants are in operation in both coal fields, and in the Western Field may be inspected one of the most efficient coal-washing plants known. All the localities named may be reached speedily and at small cost. More- over, in consequence of Lexington’s excellent geographical position and its excep- tional railroad facilities, the copper mines of Tennessee, the iron mines of Vir- ginia, Alabama and Tennnessee and the gold regions of Alabama and Georgia, to- gether with their several metallurgical establishments, may be reached within twenty-four hours or less of travel.