Harvard's educational system has been and will continue to be attacked on the grounds that it attempts to do too much in a limited period of time. The result of its high pressure method has been that many men receive degrees with nothing more than a superficial acquaintance with a large number of names that are valueless beyond the realms of dinner conversation. Fine Arts 1d is a course that tends to give this coruscating but meaningless polish simply because the instructors are not given sufficient time to provide anything else.

Any course attempting to give an intelligent appreciation of approximately fifteen centuries of the world's most fertile artistic production in less than fifteen weeks must fail. It is not the fault of the instructors who must present this mass of material. In order to include even the outstanding artistic works of this period they are forced to require their students to absorb such a large list of names and facts that it would be impossible to expect any intelligent assimilation or appreciation.

The obvious solution is to extend Fine Arts 1d to a full course. If, under the present conditions it continues to attract an ever increasing enrolment, there is every justification for extending it over the period of two semesters. A superficial and frenzied smattering of many facts is certainly useless. To devote a year to obtaining a real knowledge of the subject would be a step toward avoiding the unfortunate impression of Harvard dilettantism.