Professor Bliss Perry delivered an address on "Memorable Teachers" before the Graduate Schools Society in Phillips Brooks House last evening. He described the types of teachers in the old New England schools, and the famous professors with whom he came in contact in his studies in Heidelberg, Berlin, and Strassburg, and lastly those French scholars who represent the modern advancement in methods, in style and in effectiveness of teaching.
The first group is composed of the old ethical type of teachers, men of great intellectual distinction, but whose ways of teaching were more partisan than those of today. The most famous man, and real representative of this group, was Mark Hopkins, former president of Williams College. He had the secret of subtle power which the leading writers and great men of that day tried in vain to analyze. With his skill in handling individual men and his direct impressive methods of teaching he truly represented the old-fashioned dignity, simplicity, and reverence which pervaded the class room in the early college days.
In describing the second type of teacher the speaker referred to his trip to Germany, where he studied in three of the leading universities. There, men chose their universities according to the noted professors who delivered lectures. Five of the most distinguished men of Berlin University at this time were Curtius, Helmholz, Mommsen, Grimm, and Zupitza. Curtius was the famous Greek archaeologist, who had made valuable discoveries of classic temples and statues. The speaker described the work of Helmholz, the famous theorist in vibration of sound and light, and came in personal contact with the two greatest lecturers of that day, Mommsen and Grimm. Zupitza, the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic scholar, was one of his earliest teachers. In Strassburg and Heidelberg he came under the direct influence of such men as Ten Brink and Kuno Fischer.
In conclusion Professor Perry observed the perfect types of new French scholarship which have added infinite grace, charm, and beauty of expression to modern speech. In this group are Croiset, Canson, Le Franc, Baldensperger, and Legouis. "There is something inexplicable in the gift of speech," he said, "something as rare as the gift of poetry. And the art of teaching, like that of speaking, is more or less a mystery which requires deep analysis,--a sort of trade which we are all endeavoring to follow."
Rooms for Graduate Students
Previous to the address by Professor Perry, P. E. Sabine 3G., secretary of the society, outlined two undertakings which the society now has in view. The first regards the provision of rooms in College dormitories for men now living in private houses. On account of the Freshman dormitories an unusual number of rooms will be available next year, and it is though that all or part of Perkins Hall may be given over to those graduates who desire to room in College dormitories.
The second plan is to secure information and to find places and suitable conveniences for the graduate students with families. When this data is gathered and published a long step will be taken in solving the problems of rooms for graduate students
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