News
Garber Announces Advisory Committee for Harvard Law School Dean Search
News
First Harvard Prize Book in Kosovo Established by Harvard Alumni
News
Ryan Murdock ’25 Remembered as Dedicated Advocate and Caring Friend
News
Harvard Faculty Appeal Temporary Suspensions From Widener Library
News
Man Who Managed Clients for High-End Cambridge Brothel Network Pleads Guilty
The recent appointment of Professor Gilbert Murray of Oxford University to fill the Charles Eliot Norton Chair of Poetry next year at Harvard has called forth considerable editorial comment in a wide variety of publications. Practically all of the opinions expressed look upon Professor Murray's coming here as a definite step in intellectual progress. Unanimous comment has also been made on the fact that the word poetry in connection with this professorship is to be taken in its broadest sense and is to include poetic expression, not only in language, but in music and the fine arts.
Following is an except from The Cornell Sun: "Such an injection of culture in an American university is a refreshing indication in this day of the 'mass production' tendency in the educational methods of this country. Harvard is fortunate, indeed, in being able to anticipate not only the coming of a great figure in the world of literature, but also the adding of a further facility for furthering the ends of true culture."
Canada Likes Selection
Along somewhat the same line is the following quotation from the McGill Daily: "American colleges have lately been the objects of severe criticism because of the overemphasis placed on athletics at the expense of cultural pursuits. One striking evidence of the fact, that despite the glorifications of athletics, there is still much cultural opportunity offered on this side of the Atlantic, is found in the establishment of the Charles Eilot Norton Chair of Poetry at Harvard, and the recently announced appointment to that chair of the distinguished Oxford Professor, Gilbert Murray."
The New York Times brings out Professor Murray's position as a world figure, especially with regard to his work in connection with the League of Nations. The same phase of his career is brought out as follows in The New York World: "Gilbert Murray is an outstanding world figure. He has translated the Greek dramas into English as beautifully as any-scholar, past or present: he is an authority upon Greek life and history. But he is also a citizen of the world of today and as chairman of the executive League of Nations Union he has impressed his personality upon great affairs in this troubled time."
The New Republic also adds its word of praise and esteem for Professor Murray and hopes for the spread of internationalization of scholarship "Gilbert Murray is the first scholar chosen to hold the Charles Eliot Norton annual professorship of poetry at Harvard, and he is certainly the most distinguished of all who are available. The world of American letters will cordially welcome Professor Murray when he arrives in Cambridge next fall. The exchange professorships and scholarships which are growing common in modern education are an excellent sign of the increasing internationalization of scholarship. From that the movement will spread into other fields.
Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.