106 Educational Oases Amidst the Hoopla; Harvard Presents Its Academic Symposia

Prince Charles may be nabbing all the headlines this week, but many organizers say that the real meat of the 350th celebration lies in the 106 educational seminars taking place during the next three days.

Designed to introduce the assembled company of educated men and women to current scholarship in most academic fields, symposia topics run the intellectual gamut from the Greek poet Homer to the latest discoveries about the AIDS virus.

Computer enthusiastists, Constitutional lawyers and China scholars should find something to interest them in the potpourri of forums, organizers say. But getting into the symposia may be more difficult than picking a favorite.

By mid-summer all of the free symposia tickets were gone as eager attendees snagged the limited number of slots. Until July, alumni and students could receive one free ticket for each of the five different time frames. Since alumni requests for tickets were honored first, few students will get a chance to attend.

The standing-room-only crowd is not surprising, considering the galaxy of luminaries--including two members of President Reagan's Cabinet, a Saudi Arabian sheik, and the cream of Harvard's professorial crop--slated to address crowds in the Yard and at most of the graduate schools.

With famous names like Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger '38 and unusual topics like "Theology in a Nuclear Age," the popularity of the symposia was inevitable.

"They cover a vast array of human knowlege. I'm planning to go to as many as I can," says Willson Professor of Applied Astronomy George B. Field. "They're an education in themselves." Field will also lead a seminar entitled "The Universe: The Beginning, Now and Henceforth."

The symposia, which consist almost exclusively of panel discussions moderated by Harvard professors, will begin at 2 p.m. today and will be held at six different time periods on September 4-7. Each seminar lasts approximately an hour and a half. Admission is free, but only ticket-holders will be admitted.

Celebrating the University's birthday with a flurry of scholarship is not a new Harvard tradition. In 1936, the 300th birthday party included 10 seminars on high-brow academic subjects. The sessions, by noted European scholars and for other scholars, lasted up to two weeks.

This time, however, academics won't be the only ones listening to winged-words at the symposia. The 350th birthday seminars will star members of the Harvard faculty, not outside specialists, and are aimed primarily at interested, intelligent laymen rather than other experts.

"We plan to talk at a level that someone with a Harvard education would know what's going on," says Parkman Professor of Divinity John B. Carman, who will run a symposium today about interaction between major religious groups.

Each symposium has been organized and sponsored by one of Harvard's 10 faculties or by Radcliffe College and most panelists say they plan to attend other seminars in addition to their own.

"Someone said to me that if you could attend all they symposia, it would be the equivalent to a Harvard education," Thomas W. Stephenson '37, the 350th coordinator, said earlier this summer. "[The symposia program] "will be a rich smorgasbord with an all-star class."

But Professor of Sociology Ezra F. Vogel notes that attending the symposia "would be more like attending the concluding lecture of 100 courses rather than getting the depth of 32 half courses."

"The symposia are well-rounded presentations for alumni, but these are all special subjects," says Higgenson Professor of History Emeritus, John King Fairbank '41, who will lead a seminar on the modernization of China. "They don't provide the systematic pictures an undergraduate needs."

Besides, one and a half hours isn't a lot of time to cover an entire academic subject, says Rotch Professor of Atmospheric Science Michael B. McElroy. "We're try to cover the origin of life, new evolutionary theory and the more recent meterological past of the earth. To do the entire earth and life in an hour and a half is quite a feat."

For Non-Academic Audiences

Since the symposia are aimed at a non-academic audience, many of the panelists say they view the forums as the chance to discuss interests which are not usually addressed in regular courses.

For example, "Contrasting Approaches to the Interpretation of the United States Constitution" will feature an area of law which normal law courses don't focus on, says moderator Archibald Cox '34, Loeb University Professor Emeritus. "No law school course concentrates on the theories of constitutional interpretation," Cox says. "The discussion of theory runs through the specific courses, but [it is] not addressed as directly [as it will be] in this forum."

And Dillion Professor of International Affairs Joseph S. Nye says that symposia, like his on nuclear weapons, offer a chance to take a long range approach to world change. "[It] will be a little less 'current-eventsy' than most normal [Kennedy School] events," Nye says.

Organizers say they hope the seminars will also give participants the opportunity to take a new look at familiar areas of study.

According to Peabody Professor of Music Lewis H. Lockwood who coordinated the arts-related seminars, they were "designed to move people out of established patterns of thinking and help them understand how professionals think about their field."

The University is using the symposia "to say to its family 'here's what the present understanding is in a wide array of subjects,'" says Gamble Professor of Population Sciences David E. Bell who will lead the symposium entitled "Population Change in Today's World." Bell comments about his seminar, "We're not attempting to impress the scholars of the world or indicate what the reseach frontiers are."

Epoch-making or not, the symposia will uncover new turf for even the most experienced professor. "I don't think [my symposium] will be completely old hat to people who have some familiarity with the field," Carman says.

Many seminars will have lengthy discussion periods designed to give people the opportunity to voice more complicated concerns. Professor of Chinese Literature Patrick D. Hanan says that although his symposium, "Contemporary China: Intellectual and Literary Issues," will "have the broad range of a general education course, the panel includes the leading experts who can answer the special, detailed questions."

While some of the seminars, like the one entitled "Genes and Cancer," do focus on the cutting edge of research, organizers say that it is unlikely that many panelists will be announcing new discoveries and theories.

"You are more likely to hear a new synthesis of older ideas and receive a larger picture than is available elsewhere," says McElroy.

One exception to the rule will be Mills' symposium, entitled "People in American Business: Current and Future Issues in the Workplace." Mills plans to announce new results from his ongoing study of workers in technological fields.

Many particpants laud the University's effort to reach beyond the academic world. "It's very constructive. Harvard has a responsibility to communicate more widely than just the academic world," says D. Quinn Mills, Weatherhead Professor of Business Administration.

Amidst all the glitz and hoopla of the 350th celebration, many participants praise the symposia for celebrating what Harvard does best, academics. "It is exactly right for the University to present what it usually does. This way [the 350th celebration] is not just a party," says Lockwood.

An enlightening educational experience, however, may not be the only thing people are looking for in the symposia. Although all the symposia are sold-out, the first one to run out of tickets was "The Future of the City," the only seminar which Charles, Prince of Wales, plans to attend.