New Honors Exam

The Department of History's decision to test concentrators on their sophomore tutorial work at the close of sophomore year is basically a wise implementation of the CEP proposals. These called for some sort of essay or general examination which would help qualify students for participation in the honors program with its junior tutorial for credit.

Through last year, history honors candidates got tested at the end of junior year on two years' tutorial work. Although the new system involves an additional examination, the student will be tested while the sophomore tutorial material is fresher in his mind. Furthermore, sophomore tutorial is no longer connected at all in contents with junior tutorial, as used to be the case when junior tutorial covered the philosophy of history and sophomore tutorial treated the great historians. Now, after studying a year in one's general field for junior tutorial, one tends to forget about Ranke and Bede from the year before.

Sophomore tutorial under the new system will study both great historians and the philosophy of history. This year's sophomores will get the philosophy during the last month of study, with collateral lectures by Morton White envisaged. Perhaps more of the year's time might be spent studying the philosophy of history. Being critically aware of the various claims to truth in history is as important for the concentrator as is reading Gibbon or Tacitus.

The new system may, however, have one unfortunate result. Students who might want to switch into History late take their exams on sophomore tutorial in either of the next two years. The Department need not worry about qualifying such students for honors junior tutorial; assumedly, if they qualified for honors in their former field at the end of sophomore year, they could handle honors work in history. If the department thus offered make-up exams on sophomore tutorial once a term or so, late concentrators could make up the work at their leisure.

With this amendment included, the new testing program offers advantages to both Department and concentrators; the more stimulating honors program need not sacrifice flexibility.