It is this mixture of theory and practice that so many professors see as crucial in winning the battle to get art courses for credit. Louis J. Bakanowsky, studio professor of VES and professor of architecture, this combination is crucial and he too strongly calls for the acceptance of art courses into the curriculum. "The arts should and do have a part in the liberal arts education. If they don't it's like saying that the arts have no part in life, "he says.

Bakanowsky also anticipates a change in current policy with Brustein's arrival "He's a doer, and with his help, things might change."

Brustein says that as soon as he arrives he will investigate the historical and philosophical reasons for the non-credit tradition. "I can and will make a strong argument for drama getting course credit," he says, but he adds, "I would never make a case for credit for a performance apart from a class with theoretical content." But while more drama courses get credit with Brustein's leadership, it will probably be some time before all studio work is recognized at Harvard.

Some believe the present no-credit policy has its advantages. In the spring of '78, HRDC published a report on the arts at Harvard which concluded that the abscence of a drama department eliminated the kind of exclusiveness that often accompanies drama departments at other schools. "Harvard's drama is surprisingly non-elitist, says Bloomfield, "anybody who wants to work on a play can."

Kiely points out that the lack of faculty supervision allows for freer atmosphere for experimentation. Without formal structure, a student can work as much or as little as possible and not have to answer for it. This opinion is echoed by Morphos. "Activities with credit permit less flexibility," she says.

"I came here knowing that my performance wouldn't count for credit, and I didn't expect it because this isn't a conservatory," says Roy Kogan '80, a music concentrator who frequently performs on the piano. He also points out that students can concentrate in music and take music 180r, a seminar in performance and analysis. Furthermore Harvard provides more of an opportunity to perform than a conservatory, Kogan says. It's ultimately a matter of balancing the pros and cons of practicing the arts at Harvard. After you do that, simply realize that you have no choice but to work within the system--for now.

Though many professors have hope in Brustein, his battle will be far from easy. There remains diehard resistance to arts for credit, a movement backed by the belief that education doesn't necessitate credit and that students don't want anything different than what they have now. "Everyone knows the arts are wonderful and theraputic, but they're also hard work that take perserverence and often pain. Then again, just because they're educational doesn't mean that you have to get credit for it," Mayman says. "There's just no overwhelming need or desire for the arts as credit," say Coolidge. Perhaps with the coming of Brustein, the desire for change--a shift towards credibility for the arts as Bakanowsky calls it--will become a more public issue. Until then, for many students and professors, pursuing the arts at Harvard will remain frustrating. "Sometimes I feel that if you're in the arts you shouldn't be at Harvard," says Malardi but she, and many others, stay with hopes for change. Meanwhile, the arts survive here, as well as an ungraded fifth course can.