FACULTY HUMOR

Woe to the man who does all his outside reading for the kingdom of health shall not be his!. Or so says a member of the English department. Perhaps that is the reason why most men are contented with mere C's in their courses--realizing that to aspire higher involves doctors' bills and other unpleasant consequences. It would also seem to be another reason for abolishing assigned outside reading altogether. Something else might be done. The instructor might conceivably say, "Here, young man, are some very excellent books. There is no particular reason why you should read them, except that they are interesting and may, incidentally, help you with the final examination." Under these circumstances a student might read something quite voluntarily.

The tutorial system of course was designed with this in mind. A student reads a book, and when he has finished, he calls on his tutor. They are able to talk informally--not always about the book. But the student leaves with the conviction that he has thought profoundly and discussed learnedly for a few moments. He may be inspired to read another book. In any case, slowly but surely knowledge begins to sink in.

At Harvard the subconscious rebellion against a too limited field of activity manifests itself, and the faculty take advantage of the fact by assigning more outside reading than they dream will ever be done, or at least, one hopes so. But as long as whole units of outside reading are rammed down the students' throats, the desire for original intellectual effort will rarely be born--and if born--must meet a speedy suppression.