Putting Art in the Liberal Arts

Harvard has a lot of art to offer --but you wouldn't know it by looking at the course catalogue.

If you do look at the course catalogue you'll see a few studio art, film, and photography courses in the Visual and Environmental Studies (VES) department but that's it as far as academic credit is concerned. It's not that the arts don't exist at Harvard; it's just that the Faculty hasn't officially recognized them yet. Harvard's very active Office of the Arts and many student organizations are the caretakers of the arts here. In other words, if you're going to give time to a performing art--one that you do with your hands or your body it's on your own time and only for personal rewards.

Not everyone is taking this policy lying down. Many faculty members and administrators continue to debate the question of art courses for credit. While there is still considerable opposition, many hope that the arrival of Robert S. Brustein, former director of the Yale Drama school and future director of Harvard's Loeb theater, will change the traditional doctrine that performing arts have no part in liberal arts education at Harvard.

As the controversy grows, so do Harvard's arts programs, most of which come out of the office of Myra A. Mayman, coordinator of arts at Harvard and Radcliffe. Not only does Mayman's office provide a large number of art opportunities--classes in dance, photography and pottery to name a few--it also provides money for independent student projects. Each year, Mayman allocates $10,000 to student artists whose work will "increase the understanding of art for all of Harvard" her office also provides subsidies for instrumental lessons with Boston musicians.

"When I came to Harvard in 1973, the arts were too recreational," says Mayman. "It was my intention to start serious and demanding programs in the arts that focused on expert direction and instruction." Six years later, Mayman feels that she's gotten what she wanted.

Mayman's office also sponsors Learning from Performers, a program that brings guest artists to Harvard to work with students on a personal level. Last year the director of Broadway's Pacific Overtures ran a three part seminar with 15 students interested in drama. Students saw the play worked through its various stages, and participated on discussions with the director about the changes. This year, the program will bring playwright Arthur Miller and musician Jonnie Green to Harvard, among others.

The Freshman Council on the Arts, headed by Evangeline M. Morphos, will offer a program similar to Learning from Performers because Morphos believes freshman are often left out of the freshman arts office program The freshman arts office also provides discount rates on tickets to many cultural events in Boston as well as funding for freshman art projects. Between the offices of Morphos and other undergraduate student groups, most students will find enough to keep them satisfied. You may have to pay for them--not very much--but they're there.

Not everybody is so sure the drama department will be all there this year, however Samuel J. Bloomfield '79, former secretary of the Harvard-Radcliffe Drama Club (HRDC) believes this year will be one of transition while old staff members who resigned when Brustein was hired are busy looking for new jobs. "In theory Chapman (professor of English who heads the drama department but will be leaving that post next year) is running the Loeb, but in reality this year the Leob will be a totally student-oriented place--no staff and very little professionalism," Bloomfield says.

Despite Bloomfield's prediction, the shows still go on. This fall there will be four Loeb productions, including Dark of the Moon and The Ring. House and company productions will thrive, and Mayman reports that the Aggasiz theater is booked all the way through December. Last year, small groups outside the Loeb put on everything from the traditional Camelot (in the Union) to an original Lost Cookies at Eliot House.

No one can be certain as to what will happen to drama when Brustein settles in in 1980. Bloomfield predicts a shortage of space as well as a change in attitude when Brustein's American Repetory Company moves into the Loeb. On the other hand, several professors believe Brustein will resolve the art-courses-for-credit controversy. Those who have been agitating for more arts in academia await Brustein, a knight in shining armor who will revitalize the battle. The whole issue boils down to one question," says Robert J. Kiely, professor of English, "When does an activity become a course?" Kiely believes that as long as a course retains a theoretical aspect, there is no reason why it shouldn't receive course credit.

The solution isn't as easy as adding analysis to performing arts for john H. Coolidge, Boardman Professor of Fine Arts. Coolidge believes that because the final product in an artistic venture is so subjective, it is impossible to set standards for grading such projects. Moreover, he argues, "Boston just does not have the artistic genius that an art program requires. It's a social fact that can't be changed," Coolidge says.

But mainly Coolidge believes that life will be much simpler if the whole issue isn't raised. "It's a philosophical debate that can't be resolved," he says. But others disagree.

Labeling Harvard's traditional resistance to arts-for-credit "medieval," James S. Ackerman, professor of Fine Arts, believes Brustein is "pretty powerful and persuasive and might change the concept that art is something you do with your hands and not your brain." Ackerman cites inconsistences in the arts policy: While Carpenter Center provides several studio courses for credit, other rigorous, programs given by the Arts Council or other arts groups which are very similar to VES courses do not receive official sanction. "Theres no philosophical justification for this," Ackerman says.

Ackerman is joined by Claire Malardi, head of the Harvard-Radcliffe dance program, who sees the lack of course credit as a major drawback in the dance program. "Because the kids don't get credit for what they do in the studio, it inevitably takes backseat to their graded classes," she says. "Time and energy-wise, the teacher is up against a real battle." Still, Malardi praises the dance program and the students for their dedication and admits that one benefit of the no credit policy is the near-total absence of pressure and competition. In the long run, however, this doesn't compensate for the disadvantages of a small budget diminisfied committment from students, and other frustrations that come along with no credit status.

Malardi says that she resents the Harvard philosophy that dance is a purely physical activity and maintains that she and her fellow dance instructors include a theoretical side to their instruction

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.