Education in the Houses

In recent months there has been so much discussion of physical growth at Harvard that the scholastic implications of expansion have been all but forgotten. The one notable exception, Master Ferry of Winthrop House, has recognized that the present intellectual system requires much improvement regardless of whether or not Harvard expands.

Master Ferry proposed to shift "at least some" of the College's intellectual life into the Houses, starting in Winthrop with an Economics 1 section this term and planning sections in other courses next year. The intrahouse sections, Ferry believes, will place students and faculty on a more intimate and informal footing. The arrangement should also encourage students to discuss course material informally, outside the classroom. The result should be a House with a more friendly and interesting atmosphere.

Ferry's plan is based upon the valid assumption that the Houses should become the social and intellectual centers of Harvard, both to improve the present situation and prepare for any future expansion. Otherwise, Harvard might become a vast, diffuse intellectual factory.

The adoption of House tutorial was the first step toward making the House more than a place to eat and sleep, but tutorial has generally failed to bring faculty and students together or to bring an intellectual atmosphere into the Houses. Undergraduates rarely know the names of the resident tutors and, meanwhile, the tutors consider themselves unwelcome outsiders when they eat in the dining rooms.

House Activities Help

There are a few activities, however, which do lend some warmth and relaxation to the Houses. But House sports, organizations, and dances do not provide the intellectual basis upon which the informal yet cohesive House must rest. Until thinking is sanctioned outside libraries and classrooms, and until teachers can talk to students when off the lecture platform, the Houses can not become the focal points of undergraduate life.

Winthrop House has taken a long stride in this direction, foreseeing the not too distant day when all sections will meet in the Houses--sections in Gen Ed, government, economics, English and languages. Master Ferry is hastening that day when students will talk to professors and when undergraduates will discuss their courses around the dinner table.

The program does have its limitations, however. Conference and classroom facilities are in short supply in the Houses, although Winthrop has found it possible to remodel existing rooms. But the new Houses will relieve much of the present space shortage, and the new buildings should provide rooms for intra-house sections. The system would not, however, include those subjects which require special equipment, like science, music, and fine arts. Lectures will still be held in the Yard, and seminars at the convenience of the professor.

The shift from the College-wide emphasis must be made gradually, allowing both students, Houses, and departments to change their orientations. Otherwise a great deal of confusion, as well as conflict would be precipitated.

Express Doubts

Some misgivings have already been voiced about the program's effect on freshmen, commuters, and Radcliffe. In the first instance, freshmen have nothing to fear, as most of their classes are composed mainly of other Yardlings. Their classes will continue to meet in the Yard, so that neither their education nor class spirit should suffer. Freshmen who take upper level courses which have sections in the Houses can easily attend meetings at the most convenient House.

Commuters should actually benefit from the plan. Dudley has long yearned for the status of a full fledged House. As the University is already committed to building a new commuters' center, the new building combined with a staff of tutors and instructors should give the Dragons stronger ties and more pride than they now have.

Radcliffe, finally, already holds many of its own sections and tutorials, while in English 10 Radcliffe now attends sections in the Houses. It can be expected that 'Cliffites will arrange other House sections with little difficulty.

In all, Master Ferry and Winthrop House are to be congratulated for acting upon and idea which has long been considered the future of Harvard by farsighted educators. Master Ferry said that it is important to strive now for a small college atmosphere. In a few years the problem will be insurmountable--if we do not act immediately.

For Harvard to improve scholastically while growing physically, the Administration, the Departments, the Houses, and the undergraduates must actively support Master Ferry's plan.