Enter, Stage Left

After more than 340 years of resistance, Harvard this week finally gave in. By an overwhelming vote, the Faculty Tuesday gave the Committee on Dramatics authority to approve drama courses for credit and recommend non-paying annual appointments of lecturers in dramatic arts.

The Faculty's action was the last in a series of bureaucratic stumbling blocks the proposal has overcome since Robert S. Brustein, director of the Loeb and the American Repertory Theater (ART), first submitted it to the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) last year.

CUE recommended several changes in the Brustein plan and finally approved the altered version last January. The Committee on Drama and the Faculty Council followed CUE's lead, endorsing the proposal by near-unanimous votes.

But when Glen 'W. Bowersock '57, associate dean of the Faculty for undergraduate education, made the proposal to the Faculty, the response was not wholly positive.

Harvey C. Mansfield Jr., professor of Government, said at the meeting he has "grave apprehensions" about the worth of courses that stress practical over intellectual pursuits.

Mansfield said yesterday he "could be convinced" that such courses have educational value, "but I wasn't by what Brustein said."

Louis J. Bakanowsky, professor of Visual and Environmental Studies, pointed out at the meeting that Harvard already offers credit for some forms of "practical art" in his field.

Most did not need much convincing, however. William Alfred, Kenan Professor of English, who spoke in favor of the proposal at a Faculty Council meeting last month, told the Faculty, "I believe it's an important thing for Harvard to make a formal statement of its commitment to drama."

If all goes as Brustein hopes, Harvard will demonstrate that commitment to drama as soon as next fall. Brustein said yesterday he will submit names of instructors and detailed descriptions for his proposed courses to the Committee on Dramatics at its meeting on April 4.

A preliminary list he showed to CUE and the Faculty Council includes classes on modern dramatic genres, classical drama, and theater history, all taught in standard lecture format.

Proposed courses that have a practical element include an introductory class on theater arts and classes on acting, directing, theater design, dramatic criticism, and dramaturgy, which covers the role of the literary manager in a professional theater Members of ART will teach drama courses for credit.

Some Faculty members expressed concern that drama courses for credit may eventually lead to the establishment of a concentration and a department. Although he noted that Brustein would like to see that happen, Bowersock said at the meeting, "There are no plans for the moment. That is not a part of what we're proposing now because we want to see how this works."