Saving the Humanities

REVIEWS ' ' l 439 The second point that should be made has to do with the. substance of what Dr. Latourette thinks of as history. In his· introductory remarks~ he. admits that ".other phases of lmman ·activity and achievements rna y prove quite as significant as the political." Yet, in spite of frequent references to the economic, social, and intellectual aspects of the oriental stor·y, Dr. Latour-; ette's history ·is essentially "past politics." This he justifies on the ground. that "because so' much of public interest is focused on politica! events·.. ;. the larger proportion of the space is devoted to this side of the story." . This explanation seems to a·pproach dangerously dose to the ·argument that beeause the average 'reader has a misconception ~ f what consti t~tes history· the histo~ian sh9u.ld continue to propagate that misconception! , Perhaps sometime Dr. Latourette will write a history in which he will concentrate on .,;.hat he thinks is important, instead of allowing his audience to di r~ct him in his choice ofrnateri a!. When he does, he wil}wri te a better book. SAVING THE HUMANITIES* Th~re. has always been a difference of opi~ion in Canada between the purchasers of a university education and the purveyors of that article, as to what the article really w.as and what it was good for, The purchasers hAve universally regarded it as an investment, which must justify its c·ost by producing a sufficient increment.of i~come for the recipient to amortize itself in the first twenty years of his subsequent life.· (The ·fact that he might live longer. than that was offset by .the equally 'pertinent fact that he migh~ die earlier.) The .purveyors have consistently raised hands of horror at this carcept, though at the sarrye time insisting. thac the salaries of degreed · persons ought to be su ffi.cien tly higher th which except at .Toronto--have students who ''greatly outnumber those in honours courses." It is noted, for example, that at Toronto in the pass course 11 the humanities can be avoided, or on th·e contrary can be made to constitute almost the whole of the three years' work." The honours courses are naturall'y divided .into those in which the humanities predominate and those from which they are· more·or less completely absent. In l::"egard to the former ther'e is little or no ground for criticism, except in the fact that they are taken almost / t J ; ' , . , l.r ' I I 442 ' THE. UNIVERSITY OF TOROKTO -QUARTE~LY1 e~tirefy by students ~ho reJy .on ,their standing to earn them a living either as.specialist teachers or as members of a ~niyersity staff or i'n some semi-educational occupation. It waul~ have been interesting to have more information about the ·humanistic education imparted to those honour students who take non-humanistic ·specialties, bu't everi within the Arts f~culties the report leaves' these severely alone, and ·it~ terms of. reference exclude all the other faculties. AH thes·e courses ·imply,' of course, a previous matriculation, usually senior or j,unior matriculation followed by a modicum of cultural . work in the ·first year; bu.t the report includes one pearl of wisdom when it observ~ that (Cit is very doubtful whether any subject if dropped at senior matriculation leaves a permanent deposit of mu~h value in the mind of the student.)' · · It- seems app~rent tha·t whatever rescuing of _ the humanities may'_be needed and praqicaQle in Canada will have to be done by the friends. of the humanities .themselves, and that the method-·.should be primarily the pro~ision of funds to ins:rease the demand for'the services of humanistically educ~ted persons, with some conce·rn for the facilities (libraries and the Iike) which they need for rendering those services. The report is a most valuable contribution to this end,- but the H~manities Research Council of Canada· for which it was prepared will have to take up the challenge ·which the_ report presents. It could well follow the recommeridation that it should . for·m a Humanities Association on a national basis...