PROGRESS IN GOVERNMENT

Dean Hindmarsh's discussions of Japanese foreign policy will close for this year the series of special lectures sponsored by the Department of Government. This project, which has been a step towards an increased flexibility in the Harvard system of education, should be continued next year and, if possible, be supplemented by similar lectures in other departments.

These lectures have obviously been the result of much careful study and of particular efforts by the entire staff of the department. Attendance at them, although moderate, has not been proportional to the work involved in their preparation. Concentrators in Government should remember that one of the chief purposes of the series is to supplement tutorial work in preparation for the general examinations. Particularly significant is the announcement of the department that, although attendance at these lectures will not be necessary in order to answer any question satisfactorily, the Divisionals will be framed to allow an opportunity for the use of information gained from them. Thus the lectures are of definite practical value to students of government.

For concentrators in other departments, however, they are also important. The material contained in them deals with current problems and is in general based on original unpublished research. Thus they offer an opportunity for gaining information under almost ideal conditions, in a scholarly atmosphere yet free from the bogeys of examinations and grades. Perhaps, too, they provide an insight into future methods of education.