T7Ti r II " -II..." yy-
cffiJratMMtfMlfr"''' i HJ " nnmmiWiJi
unfrpr
" '
FIRST SUPPLEMENTTHE NEBRASKAN-HESPERIAN.
i
thing. The rognant, tho towering con
sideration Is tho public wolfnro. Tho
world cannot afford that any truth or
any representation which an Intelligent
and honest teacher believes to bo tho
truth should be forcibly kept under cov
or. -Part of what professors teach may
bo false of course. All tho moro lot It
bo aired that It may bo refuted and wo
know Its untruth. If tho teaching Is tho
truth, all agree that It ought to" bo pub
lished, 'though tho whole world at first
dorldo tho prophet who lifts his voice to
proclaim It The more any theory snubs
- our preconceptions tho more ought wo
to wish It opened to the world and put
to proof.
My other remark Is that state univer
sities are moro than any others bound
to stand for academic liberty against
whatever Influences threaten to lessen
this. Says Henry C. A 'hints In his recent
work on the Functions and Kevenuos of
Government.
"It Is essential for the modern state
to support public Instruction, because
thoro is no other way to guard against
tho fading of Itsldeals through tho rise of
mi aristocracy of learning. It Is natur
al that Institutions that look to tho
wonllhy for further endowments should
bo Influenced In tholr administration by
tho Interests of tho wealthy class; and
It roqulros no great Insight to poreolve
that tho final result of exclusive reli
ance upon private benefactions for any
phaso or grade of education will bo that
tho Instruction provided will not only
rollect the interests of a class but will
bo confined to a class. A stato
whloh alms to perpetuate democracy
cannot decline to make ample provision
at i.'ibllc expense for all phases and
forms of education. In no other way can
a system of public Instruction, which la
by far the most potent agency In shap
ing olvlllzatlon, be brought to the sup
port of democracy."
Another Indictment relative to univer
sity teaching touches the manner rather
than the matter of it. and it has. I muet
say, a good deal of Justification. If col
lego and university teachers could be
brought to honest confession nearly all
1 would In sackcloth and ashes plead
guilty to one monstrous sin. that of In
attention to pedagogical principles. The
recent flood of pedagogical interest,
which has so refreshed the whole field
of common school teaching, has appar
ently left the sand-wastes of higher Instruction-giving
as arid as ever. I do
not mean that we have not reformed the
curriculum, for we have. We have also
Improved our scholarship, our acquaint
ance with our several departments. But
n capital shortcoming continues In tho
fact that we resolutely spurn the art of
Imparting knowledge. The few who
tench thoroughly veil do so.l fcar.moro b
Innate knack than by rationally acquired
method, while those of us gifted with
no such knack, however, well we do, fall
far short of ideal success.
How fow Instructors cultivate good
voice or expressive gestures; how many
enunciate poorly and use the nose as a
vocal organ! There Is In most university
teaching little effort duly to intersperse
serious with lighter matter In order to
arouse and conserve Interest, little plan
ning to utilize to the utmost every class
room period, not wasting a second.
Suppose ono of us selected by lot wero
to be asked questions Ilko the follow
ing? What Is the psychological order
of presenting your several topics in sucn
or such a course taught by you? Which
among these topics do you most empha
size and why? How and how frequent
ly do you have the class review? What
Is tho true end or aim to be had in view
In an examination, and what sort of an
examination ought to be set in order to
compass that end? I am afraid thai
many a professor thus catechised would
be found rather badly at sea.
Again, at what stage in the average
pupil's advancement does the general use
of Inductive teaching become safe? 1
have a feeling that in work for the bach
olorsbip ii.ductlvo teaching, that Is. the
tmestlpator's method as contrasted with
the expositor's method. it too common,
and that this accounts for much of stu-ilr-ntH'
tnnl.illtv to crnsn large or com
plex subjects llrmly. 1 should be only
too glad to have the suspicion confirmed
or refuted, but can find few who have
given the problem thought. We are. to
be sure, devoting much time possibl
t.jo ii'tich to graphic methods, proJ-;-t!.n
anu the like, but the general vh
Ject of illustrative presentations as n seri
ous pedagogical device Is. so far as I
am aware, little considered by college
men.
Must we not, most of us, acknowledge
that we study quite too little the logic
of our subjects, the relation In each, of
part to part, that slipshod reasoning de
faces our prelections and our pupils' per
formances and that we allow terms'
works' of pupils' attainments to pass
which are more agglomerations of iso
lated data, wholly wanting logical con
nection? One result of our thus ignoring logic
Is xl.e poor writing which not a fow
qui to advanced students display particu
larly when tlu-y undertake piece of con
siderablo length. Many a writer l por
foctly triumphant with the sontenco.
tn ramgraph and the short article, but
wioii eiiffers vertigo If ho attempts leng
thy and continuous composition.
In his commencement address at the
unh'eratty of Michigan last June, Prn
lHor Coulter, of the university of t!hl.
cago, rot only declares much of the
tone King In American universities 1m-gincc-f.dly
poor, but allrge In nunt
IKimlstlc tone that our worst In this
MMier ban by no mean lwn reached.
Ho thinks the emphasis now laid upon
research to blame for our poor teaching,
arguing that success in research and in
tho imnnrtatlon of Instruction are In
compatible. For my part I cannot agree to this.
Ability In Investigation and ability In ex
position arc not in the nature of mii.d
contradictory or inversely proportional.
If thoy are rarely found together today
It is becouse unlver!ty faculties have so
neglected pedagogy. The Idea has come
to p rem II that If a toachor lacks ability
in imparling It is a congenital misfortune
which must ciirso him forever. I Incline
to think that within large limit studied
effort to Impart or expound well Is n
positive Aid to successful Investigation.
Unless I inn mistaken, most depart
ments of university instruction aro aa
yot a groat way from perfect pedogoglcal
orgun'zi.tlon, owIur to the desultory
manner In which they have grown up.
Tho vaiious courses of a department ov
erlap both In method and In matter,
lacking tho crisp individuality which
pedagogical order would prescribe.
When a professor Is alone In a largo de
partment, occupying a "settee" ns Oli
ver Wendell Holmes onco put It, Instead
of a chair, tho best he can do to carry
along his many classes Is In each courso
to weave together, snatching hero a lit
tle and there a little, matter sure to bo
rather l-eterogcnoous upon tho linos
with which he Is most familiar. Tho
circumstances force him to proceed with
slender attention to tho proper nature
of each course as related to tho rest.
His "elementary" course, or what he
terms such, will embrace somo pet ex
positions of dllllcult points, while tho
"advanced" courses will In parts never
shod their elementary look. All this Is
oxcusnblo In tho youth or poverty of a do
pnrtment. but Intolerable when dire ne
cessity Is pas".
An Ideal OruiiiiiKitttaii.
Tho Ideal organization for the teaching
force of a fuliy-manned department In a
university would bo a small number of
gonuinl courses Tor students beginners
In tho department or otherwise who for
any reason did not wish, ns yet or per
haps over, to specialize in it, and n very
largo assortment of particular courses,
canvassing, among them, over' newest
and most recondite phase of the subject
or subjects in charge of the department.
A general student could thus learn some
thing ot every part; a special student
ovi rythlng ot some part. Perhaps no
university on earth has the force to or
ganize thus Ideally any segment of In
struction In It, but the Ideal is neverthe
less a helpful one to bear In mind.
In passing we must remark that a uni
versity department frequented by mast
ers and doctors studying to become pro
fessors in their subject would need ono
course additional to the above and ot a
peculiar nature, tracing tho historical de
velopment of the subject and expound
ing its cyclopedia and methodology. Such
com ses are common In German univer
sities. With us they are extremely
rare, demand here being as yet insuffi
cient to evoke supply. Vet in an Ideal
organization of unlerslty studies proper
ly so-called courses ot this very ad
vanced character would certainly havo
to bo provided.
ithout going so far, without reaching
or even nenrlng that ideal, we might in
most departments have a better arrange
ment ot "extensive" and "intensive"
sources I like these terms better than
is now usual. liven the most "extensive"
courso offered by a department should
dlfler considerably irom the ordinary in
troductory course. It should not have
callow pupils alone or mainly in view,
therefore should not be particularly easy.
It should suit the needs of capable and
advanced students who, while pushing
specialties in other territories, wish to
know thoroughly as much as they can
of the land covered by this particular
department.
American universities present few
J courses of this most useful or-
uur. i-.L-.iiriit.il men uiieu seem lo iniiiK
It beneath them to construct general
courses, a whim which Iombroso might
clto as another proof that genius and in
sanity are twins. With all respect for
microscopic specializing, earnestly to bo
encouraged In every way, I so tar risk
my life as to say that it takes higher
talent to frame a good course on ihc
salient facts and laws of biology as a
whole, than It does to frame a good
course on the possible significance ot a
suspected new convolution in the superior
anterior lobe in the brain of a rare spe
cies of butterfly.
A professor's deepest art, best mental
Ity and richest stores of Information may
, well te put .nto a single courso sweep
J lng over his entire field. At the unlver
i slty of Munich I heard Kriedrich Jodl
I presenting In a one-year course a mosi
useiui resume oi the history of pnuoso
phy from Thales to Iotze. Bnumann of
Gotllngon used to have a similar course
and so did Kuno Fischer at Heldenberg.
The whole of political economy could be
feet forth in this summary way, as could
phyMcs, chemistry, oven mathematics.
In most departments one good extensive
course of this sort would suffice, but a
department with an abundant force
might have two or )Krhups three of these
cxtonslvo courses. varying In tholr
length. In their points ot view, in their
severity and in the sorts of matter by
them presented, somewhat according to
tho Idiosyncrasies of the professors of
fering them. Then there would naturally
be added as many "Intensive" courses as
your force could provide, treating as far
as possible all the various fields, sections
and siih-soction of the department's
subject. Its most recondite phases and
Inquiries, and tho nowost discussions and
discoveries to It pertaining.
Klccdvc Stuillc.
Given such an arrangement of courses,
tho problom of elective studies wou'd
shod most of Its soriousnoss. In non
technical study Above the high school
grade the general principle of elcct'on Is
aniind. ;ut th- ill-organization of the
teaching In many institutions lends color
to the complaint that election is here
and tlwre too early bi-gun and too abso
lute. Course of study being sclcntltlf
ally constructed and classified, a pupil
may well enough bo left to himself under
the simple condition that say one-third
of all the courses he takes must be ex
tensive, representing so many dlfforcnt
departments, and all the rest Intcnjlve,
ropresontlng not less than two or more
than three departments
Such an arrangement would prevont
tho nnrrownors now so Justly complained
of In tho attainments of many brilliant
pupils at graduation. A young pupil who
has had no opportunity to acquire Intel
lectual atmosphere or horizon Is Intro
duced lo some limited range of learn
ing tfnwk. Latin, mathematics, German,
French, physics, chemistry and thon
pornilttcd to go on electing studios In
that sanio potlto specialty till ho has
credits enough to graduate I maintain,
that hl- Is a grave ovll, however num
erous oi distinguished tho institutions so
practlclnti Tho simple plan which I
havo suggested woulu forco each uupti
to a larger vlow. Ho might at last bo
como a specialist In Greek, in Irriga
tion, or In tho housing of tho poor, out
ho would bo a safer and moro promising
specialist than many whor wo havo
known.
1 mention with tho utmost humility
that I should myself Hko to restrict oleo.
tlon by pupils at ntlll ono adultlon.u
point. Insisting that every candidate lor
tho bachelorship should take for at least
two somesters a course In somo torm or
practical work involving tho eyo or tho
hand, or both. Tho world iuoJs high
class executive and motor ability moio
than It needs logical acumen, mental
stores or speculative genius. I account
the classical and literary students in
this university positively fortunate in
that they aro hero forced Into cjntao;
with so many departments where learn
ing Is largely got by doing. Learning
needs to bo shored nay, annealed to llto
moro than It has been, it Is in lis rcla
tlvo falluro to produce exocutlvo and mo
tor efficiency that higher education Is
mobt lacking. If I had my way, there
fore, 1 would permit a pupil to graduate
as bachelor only on tho condition that
he should not merely master a number
of subjects mentally, but should In addi
tion do or make something concroto and
useful. Ho should create a ruler, a
hammer, a pair of tongs, a door, a tool
chest, a Jackscrcw, a wagon wheel, or ho
should responsibly survey a section of
land or keep doublo entry a sot of books.
A woman student should bo required to
work out for Instance nn elegant design
for somo useful object or to create tne
object Itself from a design ot somo ono
else. A painting or a drawing would
answer very well this executive require
ment, as would a worthy pleco of musi
cal composition or tho ability to sing,
play, or conduct well.
The Practical Spirit.
For the Infusion of a somowhat moro
practical spirit Into higher education
there aro many strong reasons. The at
mosphere of most university communi
ties is still a bit malarial with pride oi
scholarship. The bookish fellow with his
starch and hauteur, tho prig, tho pejaut,
the Intellectual pharlsce Is sdlll with us.
He thinks letters not made for man but
man for letters. Ills learning often ren
ders tho pedant also a reclus.. Tho
monk's monastery is gone, obliging him
to walk abroad moro or Iljss, but in spirit
ho is still a monk. Instead ot haying,
"Nothing that is human do I account
alien to me," the recluse says in his
manner, "Kvcrythlng that Is human do
1 reckon alien." Your scholar of this
unhappy sort loves ami comnends studio
Just in proportion as they lack practical
power Equally falsj and t.rm is his
opinion that utilitarian studies like eco
nomics and engineering cannot furnish
tho mind with fint rate gemr.il drill
such as he himself has had. Wo have
all met elsewhere Intellectual gentle
men oi this kind. Your man of action
out in the. world sometimes falls In with
such, and when he docs so he despises
them. It is the occasional presence of
those mere bookworms in and about
learned institutions that makes ontc
fairly sensible people wonder whether
higher education Is not the vanity of
t unities.
Quito closely connected with that ped
antry and monachism. in fact simply an
other phase of the same aberration, Is
a certain mental asthenia symptomed on
tho one hand by mental lethargy and de
jHjndence, on the other by loua dog
matism, tho naive assumption of finality
in tho man's attainments however slen
der. He has lost if ho ever possessed
them ad humility, all that Inqulsltlvc
ness so vital to the spirit of science, and
all notion of the wldeness, I will not
sa of tho total fact-world, but of its
minutest or its most familiar part,
A phase, as unhealthy as in certain of
Its manifestations it is beautiful, of this
mental dependence is well criticised by
Sir James FitzJames Stephen in his es
say entitled "Gamaliels." In that essay
8li James seems to havo in minJ Dr.
Thomas Arnold, the foremost "Gama
liel" of tho British world in the Jays
Just before our own, at whose feet sat
so long and with such obeisance that
they never learned to stand erect, a
considerable number of men who might
have been original and even great,
I cannot agree with Sir James Fitz
Jamcs Stephen In what appears to be h;s
vlow that "Gamaliels" aro a pure evil
An Inspired teacher like Thomas Arnold
Kllphalet Noll, Francis Wayland, oi
Mark Hopkins creates vastly more men
tal life than he keeps down. The net
Influence of such a preceptor must be
good. None the less his intlucnco is dan
gerous. Wide Is the gate nnd broad tho
way that leadcth to repeating and many
bo they that enter In thereby; for nar
row is the gate and straitened tho
way that leadcth unto thinking, nnd few
bo they that find It. Woo betide the
pupil who Is forever referring to his fa
vorito master with an Ipse dixit. A
really great master dislikes to be quoted.
Ho prefers to bo refuted. The great
master's tone Is, Do not cite authority,
prove all things, hold fast what Is true
Who is Paul and who I Apdlos bat
ministers (that Is, helpers) throuuh
whom yo believed! And who 1 Plato
or ChryslppuM. Aquinas or Abelard, New
ton. Hume, or Kant. Wundt, HjMsnccr or
Iord Kelvin but helpers through whom
wo have with our own eyes seen our
way Into truth as far and as clearly as
we could!
The AKrlcultiirnl College,
I mention lastly a special criticism not
Infrequently heard In reference to thos
universities which like our own embrace
colleges supported by the Morrill funds
nnd by special state grants to supple
ment those funds. It Is often hinted
nnd sometimes eald that tho very im-
fiortant interests which the Morrill leg
slatlou was meant to further are )g
norcd or subordinated by universities of
this class, or ut any rato not glvon the
attention or pushed with tho zeal which
tholr Importance as tho special wards
of tho nation nnd tho state ought im
peratively to command for thorn. Per
haps you havo heard this complaint ex
tended to insinuate misapplication of tho
funds named.
I do not bellovo that any unlvorsltlis
using tho Morrill funds havo boon guilty
of misappropriating thoso funds and 1
am very confident that tho university of
Nobroska has not; but I am not so suro
that tho complaints referred to arc In all
cases qulto groundless. Tho universities
charged with tho oxpondlturea of tho
Morrill and Hatch funds aro in duty
bound not only to fulfil punctiliously tho
letter of tho laws relating to those funds
and In their bookkeeping to show to alt
tho fact that they aro doing this, but
also to act fully up to tho spirit of those
laws, to put Into tho forms ot Instruc
tion sustained by thoso moneys tho very
best teaching, equipment and udmlnt--trallon
at their command, as well as nil
tho energy, zeal nnd enthusiasm with
which they carry on any instruction
whatever. Of course no lino of our
teaching can be allowed dominance, a
no lino can bo subordinated, becauso all
tho teaching that Is done among us Is
Installed by authority of tho stato of No
bras'. .i and overy part ot It must bo
uphold and cherished to tho best ot tho
university's ability till remlttod by order
of tho state. Hut It thoro wore to bo,
as there will not bo, If thcro could bo,
ns there cannot be, dominance In any
lino of our teaching, tho parts which it
would obviously bo our duty to select
for special favor would bo thoso for tho
promotion of which we aro under na
tional as well as stato mandamus.
Where Fault In Found.
Our icvlow has evinced, has It no.,
tlrst that the principal laults of unlvoi
sltles aro to bo loiuui not In tho uircle
ot their general intlucnco out m ami
about their Uachlng otilec, and secon.dy
that ssoino oi these uetecis wnlch mm
university leaching are rathor serious;
warped uoctrine given form irom somo
chnirs, Imported pedagogy neatly every
where ana all ot us at case in don re
garding it, iiiulty structure of course
ana laulty organization ot dopartm. lus.
much laxity in election ot stumes on the
part of students, with somo peuutitiy,
alienation irom, lite, dogmatism ii.i
Gamaliel worship. ihougii thj o,y
worst ot these evils aro comparative.
superficial, .kin diseases, not uiiemlas r
apoplexies, they call lor examination,
diagnosis and resoluio treatment, inem
cai or surgical or both. The nappy lact,
which I love lo emphasize, that univer
sity lunctlonlng Is in the m.iiu as it
should be, must not ueter university peo
ple irom earnestly seeking to heai tno
blemishes ami (tendencies in it. Xso hu
mnu uitair is so complete that it cannot
be Improved. The university system oi
America Is the result ot long growtii
and many factors. It will not alter eas
ily or speeuliy. But it will alter, and
being mainly in tho hands of thoughtful
men, it will alter lor the belter.
Ladies and Gentlemen; -The clrctun
stance that we of Nebraska unlvoislt
have membership In so ancient and hon
orable a system brings us ut once dig
nity and responsibility. ICach of us can
do something to rellne the metal already
so nearly pure, lo strengthen the faoric
already so solid. Each can. widen hi
view, Improvo his scholarsnlp, raiion
allzo his order of presenting ftis subjict,
..r.d use new Inspiration in addressing
his claries. Good Influence sal gom
In .; commanding an educational center
will i each the Atlantic and the Paellto,
yen, the ends of the educational earth.
IT we have not done our best wo will
begin; if we have, then let our very
seives cnange, making our future best
better ihan that of our past. So shall
each one's masterwork hitherto bJ
quickly surpassed, seeming like vorltnulo
failure matched Against tho splendor of
that success which Is to be!
'lln- World if Muxlc.
"The chief attraction at Vienna,"
writes Mr. Stelner in the Home Com
panion has been Professor Ieschetltzky
the teacher of Paderwskl and perhaps
the best known of all teacherH of piano.
He Is moody and Impatient, but is a
prince of good fellows to the pupil who
shows talent and excessive Industry.
He has taught most of the great
American pianists.
I visited Professor L,eschctltzky at
his Hummer house at Ischl, nnd dur
ing our conversation he made the fol
lowing statements in regard to Ameri
can music students which are well
worth their attention:
"They oujjht not come to us unless
they are musical and know music."
"Too many of them don't know how
to touch the piano and I have neither
the time nor the patience to teach the
scales."
"A talented miui or woman ought ?y
all means to come over here If only
to see how little he or she knov about
music."
"Your young people lack depth and
Industry. They are very enthusiastic
at first but most of them d-op off when
the hard work begins."
t I not often that an artist rouses a
deficit in a large orchestral society, but
nevertheless such a cose has Just come
to light. The Music Trade Review for
September soys: "The Iondon Phll
harmolc society's season has been such
a failure from a financial standpoint
than an assessment of ten per cont lias
hail to be levied on the guarantors.
Ono reason Is that the artists, were
either paid nothing at all, or very lit
tle; thoy not being In tho class of
drawing cards. Rosenthal and Pador
ewoskl hoth played before Immense
audiences, but they received the full
price.
(1
i
K3I
