1. The History of Modern Fiction. Professor BRANDER MATTHEWS. Two
hours.
2. The Theory, History, and Practice of Criticism, with special
attention to Aristotle, Boileau, Lessing, and English and later
French writers, and a study of the great works of imagination.
Professor WOODBERRY. Three hours.
[3. Epochs of the Drama. Professor BRANDER MATTHEWS. _Not given in
1898-9._]
4. Dramatists of the Nineteenth Century. Professor BRANDER
MATTHEWS. Two hours.
[5. Molière and Modern Comedy. Professor BRANDER MATTHEWS. _Not
given in 1898-9._]
[6. The Evolution of the Essay. Professor BRANDER MATTHEWS. _Not
given in 1898-9._]
7. Studies in Literature, mainly Critical: Selected Works, in Prose
and Verse, illustrating the Character and Development of Natural
Literature. Lectures. Professor WOODBERRY. Three hours.
8. Studies in Literature, mainly Historical: Narrative Poetry of
the Middle Ages. Lectures and Conferences. Mr. TAYLOR. Two hours.
[9. The Lyrical Poetry of the Middle Ages. Professor G.R.
CARPENTER. _Not given in 1898-9._]
10. Hellenism: Its Origin, Development, and Diffusion with some
account of the Civilisations that preceded it. Lectures and
Conferences. Mr. TAYLOR Three hours.
11. Literary Phases of the Transition from Paganism to
Christianity, with illustrations from the other Arts of Expression.
Lectures and Conferences. Mr. TAYLOR. One hour.
Seminar in Literature. Professor WOODBERRY. Seminar in the History
of the Drama. Professor BRANDER MATTHEWS.
A "seminar" is an institution borrowed from Germany. The professor and a
small number of students (six or eight at the outside) sit together
round a table, with their books at hand, and pass an hour in
co-operative study and discussion. In going through the noble library of
Columbia University, I came upon an alcove devoted to Scandinavian
literature, with a table on which lay some Danish books. The gentleman
who was guiding me round happened to be an instructor in the
Scandinavian languages. He pointed to the books and said, "I have just
been having a seminar here, in Danish literature." Seeing on the shelves
an edition of Holberg, I asked him if he had ever considered the
question why Holberg's comedies, so delightful in the original,
appeared to be totally untranslatable into English. "One of my
students," he said, "put the same question to me only to-day." One could
scarcely desire a better example of the all-embracing range of the
studies which an American University provides for and encourages. I have
heard it said, with a sneer, that "You can take an honours degree in
Marie Corelli." If you can graduate with honours in Holberg, your time,
in so far, has certainly not been misemployed.
Whatever the drawbacks of the German influence which is so marked in
America, I cannot doubt that in one thing, at any rate, the Americans
are far ahead of us--in the careful study they devote to the science of
education. No fewer than twenty courses of lectures on the theory and
practice of education were given in Columbia College during 1898-99.
Teaching, I take it, is an art founded upon, and intimately associated
with, the science of psychology. Why should we be content with
antiquated and rule-of-thumb methods, instead of going to the root of
the thing, studying its principles, and learning to apply them to the
best advantage?