Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/502

 492 Providence Meeting of the the experiments made in the historical curriculum at that insti- tution and their good and bad results. But one course is offered, he said, in the freshman year, a general introductory course in the medieval and modern history of western Europe. Experience had shown that the demand in the second year was for general courses, covering broad fields, rather than for more special courses, the fields of which were somewhat restricted. A course covering the whole of English history has been found best to meet this demand, while in the junior and senior years a free elective system prevails. Professor A. C. McLaughlin of the University of Chicago re- marked that while a fixed sec|uence of studies after a general intro- ductory course may be advisable, there are many difficulties in pre- paring any rigid scheme, especially if the arrangement is made to depend only on the location and extent of the periods that may be selected. The guiding principle of the order of courses ought not to be the choice of fields for their own sakes. Any sequence to be useful and helpful must be based on the purpose of bringing the student gradually into a fuller appreciation of what history is and what its methods are. The chiefest aim in any arrangement must be to bring the students into intellectual sympathy with history as a branch of modern developing knowledge and to give them the historical spirit, perspective, and a knowledge — not, of full technical detail to be sure — but a reasonable knowledge of the essentials of historical criticism and construction. Professor H. Morse Stephens of the University of California adverted to the diff'erences of method which must be caused by the varying numbers of men and women in various institutions. The women students study history in order to become teachers of that subject, while the men most commonly intend to specialize in law or journalism later. Teachers must therefore differentiate sharply between the order and method employed in the instruction of men and those pursued with women. Professor Charles D. Hazen of Smith College urged that the ability of any particular student to pursue with profit a given course depended more upon his maturity than upon such preparation as might be offered by introductory courses. Thus, he said, the sequence may vary with every student, and he advocated a high degree of flexibility in the requirements. Professor Munro of Wisconsin related that at the University of Wisconsin a system of majors with a bachelor thesis obtains, and that a student who holds his major in history must take twenty- si.x semester-hours. In the. freshman year three courses are open: ancient, medieval, and English history. In the following years all