FOSTERING the SPIRIT of INQUIRY in the COLLEGE of LIBERAL ARTS W. M. BLANCHARD DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana
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edge in some particular field of learning is extended, he Arts and the University, although the distinction is it science, philosophy, philology, theology, mathenot often recognized by the general public, certainly matics, psychology, history, or any other of a dozen or not always indicated by the official title attached to more fields. He is supposed to be well versed in the individual institutions. Many a College of Liberal many phases or aspects of his particular field, an auArts is labeled "University" in its charter authorized by thority on some rather technical subdivision of this legislative enactment. Furthermore, practically all of field, and to have made by his own research some conour Universities that are really such and so designated tribution to the enlargement of its boundaries. He is a have within their walls a College of Liberal Arts, and "doctor of philosophy," even though he may never have both functions, that usually performed by such a read a page of philosophy. There are some who still take the position that during college and that performed by the university, are carried on simultaneously and not infrequently by men of his four years in a college of liberal arts the young man should take no thought as to his future vocation or prothe same faculty. While most of us have something rather definite in fession, that he should devote his whole time and mind when we use the word "college," and something strength to the pursuit of that indefinable and someelse rather definite in mind when we use the word what nebulous something called "culture," and that "university," there is a difference of opinion as to only after he has been sufficiently cultured, a t the close whether any such distinction should be made. Some. of a four-year period in which are mingled much work, hold that there should be a progressive change from more leisure, not a little participation in sports, extracollege freshman to university doctor of philosophy, curriculum activities of all kinds, social and otherwise, with no radical break anywhere along the line. Others and given abundant opportunity to cultivate that very maintain that the aims and the purposes of the two delicate art, the art of making friends-then, and not institutions are quite different, that the function of the until then, should he be expected to give his attention to college is to develop men and the function of the uni- that rather troublesome question, the @iestion of earnversity is t o develop science, using the word "science" ing a livelihood or preparing himself for some kind of in a broad sense. Putting it in another way, that the more or less public service, the practice of some profescollege is personal, cultural and humanistic; the uni- sion, the application of technical knowledge. One versity, impersonal, scientific, and materialistic. The hears not infrequently from college platforms the deccollege sets for itself the task of conserying knowledge; laration, "It is far more important to make a life than the university that of creating or extending knowledge. i t is to make a livingv-hence the purpose of the college The watchword of the college is culture; &at of the of liberal arts. Perhaps it was for this reason that our older colleges were located in remote places, that the university, research. The product of the college is expected to be a gentle- students might be free from the temptations and allureman, courteous in conduct, catholic in taste, well ac- ments of city life. Then again, there are those who believe that given quainted with the outstanding literature of every age and country, fairly familiar with human history from some incentive toward the habit of Caking a broad outearly dawn to the present hour, somewhat acquainted look in any situation, a man for the most part will make with the physical world in which he lives, having some his life, that is, grow in the habit of acquiring and deknowledge of the basal facts, theories, and laws of the veloping all the qualities of a good citizen, while a t the biological and physical sciences, trained to discriminate same time he is in the process of making his living, pracbetween values, able to express himself clearly and ticing his profession, or applying his technical skill. effectively in his own language and having a t least a Surely a man has much more of his life t o make after he reading knowledge of Latin or Greek as well as German leaves college than he has made up to the time of his and French, or some other modern tongue. He is a graduation. Making a life is a continuous process of growth. The preacher grows, or should grow, in the "bachelor of arts." The product of the university on the other hand, and repeated act of preparing and delivering his sermons I am referring now to the graduate and not the profes- and discharging the many other obligations connected sional school, is expected to be a specialist, a man with his office, but he does not preach without compentrained in the technic by which the boundary of knowl- sation. By this service he is earning his living; a t the 4519
N AMERICA we still have the College of Liberal
same time he is making his life. Similar statements might be made of the members of other so-called learned professions or business occupations. So there are many who hold that the greatest service a college of liheral arts can render a youth is to bring him in touch with the various fields of human endeavor-language, science, history, philosophy, literat u r e i n the hope that by the end of two years, by contact with subjects, with teachers, and with fellow students he will have fonnd some field of study to which he might devote himself with special interest and for the pursuit of which he might manifest a marked aptitude. Unfortunately, such a happy result is within the experience of only a comparatively small proportion of college students. Experience has shown that the large majority are unable t o decide a t the end of even four years just what they would like to do for the remainder of their lives; nor is it probable that a choice could be made by these if the college period were extended to six years instead of four. At any rate they will have been given an opportunity to discover their major interest, if perchance they have one. I am not unmindful of the fact that many students leave college with their minds set on one pursuit and later change it for another, while others, perhaps a small number, do not find themselves until they are older and much more mature, and a few never reach such a happy state a t all. Is it narrow-minded, selfish, unfair, unethical, orbad psychology for a college teacher particularly interested in a certain subject to be on the lookout for freshmen who may evidence a marked aptitude for and striking interest in the subject in which he himself is most interested? Is the chemist inexcusable for keeping a "weather eye" out for a potential chemist, the physicist for a potential physicist, a zoologist for an embryonic zoologist, and for being a little partial in his attentions when he has fonnd such a potentiality? If the professor of English detects in a freshman or a sophomore the gift of writing, is he disloyal to educational ideals if he encourages. that student to give his attention particularly to the cultivation of this talent? Of course a man cannot do much Griting unless he has something to write about, but will not the increasing capacity of effective expression stimulate him to a wider acquaintance with fields of human interest? Is i t not our duty to discover talents wherever they may be hidden, to cultivate aptitudes when once revealed, and to encourage our students to develop both the acquisitive and appreciative spirit on the one hand, and the creative spirit on the other? Should we leave to the college of liheral arts only the former, and reserve for the university only the latter? Would it not be wise and to the highest ultimate good of the student himself, as well as the social order in which he is to spend so large a part of his life, if he could begin the cultivation of the scientific imagination, receive some decided stimulus to the creative instinct, said to he latent in all of us, while he is still in college, and, on the other hand, carry over the desire for further aeneral culture into the nniversity? Is it not possible
to provide our gifted students, particularly our seniors, some practice in research, in creative effort, in the setting up of original problems and the effort a t solving them, without destroying their interest in other fields than the one in which they have found a particular interest, without decreasing their understanding and sympathetic appreciation of the work of others in widely different fields of activity? If all men of the present were content with merely knowing what men before them have brought to light in philosophy, science, literature, government, the fine arts, how could there be any progress? And if this had been the attitude of all men from the beginning, how could we now have any knowledge of any kind, any literature or art or philosophy? At the institution in which I have had the privilege of teaching chemistry for many years, while some of us on the teaching staff have been commiserated occasionally for being afflictedwith "departmentitis," it has a t least not been considered an unpardonable academic sin for a member of the faculty to look with pride and some satisfaction upon "a f i n d and to give such a youth of special promise every encouragement in the pursuit of the distant goal. I must confess to a real thrill over the discovery of a freshman or sophomore with an unmistakable bent toward chemistry and an enthusiasm for this. particular science. I am sure that I should feel the same thrill if i t were. some other gift the student possessed and I had the capacity to detect it. Furthermore, I have never hesitated to give such a student individual attention and encouragement from year to year until I have had the satisfaction of seeing him mak: later the same kind of progress in the graduate school, and still later the same marked success in the field of research, either in the puie science or in its numerous practical applications, that he made as a student in college. After all has been said, is a man less worthy of respect or esteem who devotes a large part of his time and strength to chemical research in the effort to discover the molecular structure k d a practical synthesis of adrenalin, thyroxin, chlorophyll, hemoglobin, or any one of numerous other substances of vital significance to mankind, than one who spends his days in the contemplation of ancient philosophies, the reading of medieval history, or the critical analysis of modern fiction? Should we not let every man work out his own destiny to his own satisfaction, and without interference or hindrance from others, so long as he injures no one and does not stand in the way of the progress of others motivated by as noble aims and ideals as himself? Approximately forty per cent. of the students entering college remain to graduate; of these, ten or fifteen per cent. go on to graduate schools to continue their studies in fields in which they have become particularly interested while students in college. About half of these take their doctor's degrees from some nniversity. Might not a larger proportion take this course, and might not the world be a little richer in learning as well as in wisdom if these percentages could be brought to larger numbers? And might not these numbers he
increased if we as college teachers could give more of our students of special promise, during a t least their senior year, some introduction to the spirit and methods of the university, and thereby make the transition from the institution of liberal arts to the institution of creative scholarship less abrupt and more appealing? In some colleges more than one department on the campus is doing this very thing, and in a very creditable way, and the results of the efforts are attracting favorable attention. For the past two years we have been trying out a t DePauw a definite experiment of this kind in the department of chemistry. Those seniors who are taking their last routine course in completion of their requirements for a major and who have the spare time and the inclination are assigned to a member of the staff for a research problem. This man is specially interested and skilled in research. These problems cover as wide a range as the capacity and experience of the instructor
will permit. The students take up the work and carry i t on with great enthusiasm, giving a great deal more time to it than they would to any routine course. In order to broaden their knowledge of chemistry in general while centering their attention largely on some very definite problem, they meet together from time to time, each to give account of himself, his progress, his methods, the difficulties encountered, new problems arising, and so forth. There were six enrolled for such work last year, nine this year. Four out of last year's group are now in graduate institutions. By the close of the present year there will be some half-dozen papers ready for publication and several men again headed for universities for their advanced degrees. We shall continue the experiment as long as we can secure the necessary funds unless we have reason to change our estimate of its success. We are very much gratified with the results up to the present time.
