History and Literature . . .

Most students in History and Literature feel that they are members of a field specially superior to all others by virtue of its honor requirements and the prejudiced view is not entirely unjustified.

Founded at the turn of the century by Professor Barrett Wendell--in whose honor a yearly prize is still given to concentrators--the Committee on Degrees in History and Literature offers generalarts-inclined students an opportunity for a varied and unspecialized study; with the advantages of a thorough-going tutorial system and a majority of honor students in the enrollment.

Slice it to Your Taste

The field includes the main civilizations in world history, subdivided either by country or century. A History and Lit major can concentrate on America, England, France, Germany, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, and the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries.

He faces junior divisional exams, a senior oral test, and a lengthy thesis, besides minor Sophomore and Junior bonus tests in Shakespeare, the Bible, and an ancient historian and poet.

If he gets through the entire obstacle course, maintaining good grades at the same time, he receives an honor degree. If not, and he fails down on one exam or, say, his thesis or grades, he is often made a "pass candidate" and given an ordinary degree in History and Literature.

Lot's of PBK's

Very few men in the field became "pass candidates" however, and the proportion of History and Lit concentrators who become Phi Beta Kappas is very great.

Eight courses are required, generally to be divided half and half between the literature and the history of the concentrator's country or period. The department grants great latitude, however, in what they call "related courses," and as a result History 1--while it lasted--and English 123 both get credit for American History and Lit majors. The range of possible courses makes the department one of the least specialized in the College.

Heavy Guns and Specialists

In addition to the Faculty Big Names associated with the History and Lit department, such as F. O. Matthiessen, who will be absent next year but will return in the fall of 1950, there is a group of tuors who are specialists in each of the fields, and every concentrator gets regular tutorial guidance from the time he enters, unless his grades fall below the minimum Group IV rating.

This personal tutorial relationship, over a period of three years, is considered the most valuable aspect of the field by most concentrators, who find in it a chance to develop their interests on an intimate level and with the direct advice of someone who shares them and knows more about them.

The History and Literature department is ordinarily limited to fifty Harvard and fifteen Radcliffe students from each clas. It is usually oversubscribed.