Conway Calls For Courses Within House

John J. Conway, retiring Master of Leverett House, said yesterday that "the House system is ready for development into a new phase" which could bring courses for credit into the Houses.

Two other Faculty members shared his concern with the problem of integrating education with the House system. They suggested, however, that non-credit seminars and a strong tutorial program might be given by the House more easily than any credit course now in existence.

Conway called the present program of House seminars a "step in the right direction." He emphasized, however, that "no program of this type can be successful if it isn't for credit."

Section meetings or "some other form of credit course" might be held in the House, Conway said. He stated that a detailed study will be necessary before any concrete proposals can be made.

But Richard T. Gill '48, who has been named to succeed Conway as Master of Leverett House, said that "bringing curricular matters into the Houses doesn't have too much of a future. You weaken the House system if you make it do something it is unsuited for."

Facilities a Problem

He noted that lack of facilities for large courses would limit credit courses in the Houses to section meetings. "It is somewhat artificial to hold section meetings in a House if the students and the professor are affiliated with several different Houses," Gill observed.

Stressing the student's need for a "personal relationship to the educational process," Gill called for tutorial programs grouped by Houses, and an expanded program of House seminars.

The limited success of seminars has been attributed to the fact that they are not given for credit. Gill pointed out, however, that seminars created by student initiative are often highly successful.

To Create "Spillover"

Whether or not courses in the Houses are given for credit, their purpose is "to create some sense of intellectual life that spills over into the Houses," according to David Riesman '31, Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences.

He said that "academic spillover" could be created in section meetings as well as in seminars. Riesman's Soc Sci 136 meets at 12 noon "because I hope there will be a spillover at lunch--a chance to explore ideas."

Riesman would like to see the Houses be "at the same time a refuge from the curriculum and an avenue toward it. The line here is obviously very fine."