Egyptian Art, Financial Aid: Jewett Audits Fine Arts 13

While most Harvard administrators are at lunch today, the dean of admissions and financial aid will be learning about Egyptian art.

Among the more than 300 students who will attend the noon lecture for Fine Arts 13a. "Introduction to the History of Art: Ancient and Medieval," will be one auditor and dean, L. Fred Jewett '57.

"I try to audit at least one course each semester if I can," Jewett said Monday, adding that he prefers to schedule lectures during the lunch hours because "it ties in with my attempt to keep down my weight."

"I think it's wonderful for people in those positions to know something about the courses," said Porter Professor of Fine Arts James S. Ackerman, who teaches Fine Arts 13a.

Ackerman added that he does not know of any other administrators who have taken courses he teaches, but Jewett said he has been informally auditing courses for the past seven or eight years.

Although he does not attend sections, the dean said, "I do try to do most of the reading." A Government concentrator as an undergraduate, Jewett said he has not attended any Gov courses recently. "I've been mainly doing things that I didn't have time to do when I was an undergraduate, he explained.

Other courses he has taken have ranged from colonial American history to Dostoyevsky, but Jewett said that while he has au- dited "normally all big courses," he steers away from those in which he might be taking a seat away from an undergraduate. This year was the first in which Fine Arts 13a was not too crowded for him to feel comfortable staying, he added.

As for this spring, Jewett said, he will probably continue with the second hall of Fine Arts 13, and may even add another course, but "it depends on what's meeting Tuesday and Thursday at 12.