PEERS DISCUSSES FOREIGN SCHOOLS

That the greatest difference between Harvard and Spanish Universities lies in the number of students enrolled and the method of the management, was the statement made to a CRIMSON reporter by E. Allison Peers, professor at the University of Liverpool since 1920 when he succeeded the great Cervantes scholar, James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, as professor of Spanish. He is Visiting Professor of Modern Comparative Literature at Columbia University during the present academic year.

"All the Spanish Universities, and the English Universities except for Oxford, Cambridge, and London are run on a great deal smaller scale than Harvard", said Mr. Peers. "The result is, of course, that our professors are bothered with comparatively little organization or red tape, as compared with yours. In the University of Liverpool, for instance, there are only 1800 students. The main reason for this is that there are not anywhere near as many people in Spain or in England who are desirous of a college education as there are in America. Then too, in Spain the A. B. degree means almost nothing, for the Universities there take boys at the age of 14 or 15, and the course given is more like that of a super high-school rather than anything similar to that taught in an American college.

Barcelona and Madrid Largest Schools

"The Universities of Madrid and Barcelona are by far the largest in Spain today", he continued, "having replaced Salamanca which flourished alone in the days of the Moors. The students naturally flock to the capital, Madrid, and to the largest commercial center, Barcelona, the result being that only 400 students occupy the tremendous and ancient buildings at Salamanca. One of the most remarkable things about these Spanish Universities is that it is only within the last few years that they have started to teach modern languages. Tied up, as they have been, with tradition, they have taught Arabic, Greek, and Latin as the standard course up to the present day.

"Although the standard is not high in the undergraduate departments", said Mr. Peers, "there is high quality work in the graduate schools. Few foreign students attend, the enrollment being small and almost entirely Spanish. In general, however, the tendency in these Universities is progressive."