Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2001/10/01/smiling_the_classical_canon_on_campus.php
Monday, October 1, 2001
On September 22, the Dartmouth Bookstore hosted a book signing for Professor Emeritus Jeffery P. Hart. He signed copies of his newest book, Smiling through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher Education.
Throngs of readers flocked to the bookstore. Bookstore staff reports that the book, which has been on shelves for two weeks, is 'selling unusually well for a book of its genre.'
Hart's novel is an in-depth comparison of the philosophical 'Athens' style of literature and the religious 'Jerusalem' works. Hart focuses on the classics like The Iliad, Hamlet, Crime and Punishment and the Bible. He worries that these works are 'but residually present today, if at all, even to professors of the liberal arts.' He fears that as the teaching of 'postmodernist' literature becomes increasing common on the prestigious campuses of America, political correctness has trumped classical study. At Dartmouth, the student handbook claims the College's character lies in 'a devotion to a vital learning environment rooted in the liberal arts tradition.' Hart recognizes this contradiction, but will the faculty heed his warnings?
Dartmouth is one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the country, yet English majors do not need to read Aristotle to graduate. The best way for a student to read the great works of literature is to take the popular Humanities 1 & 2, a two quarter first year seminar only offered to those who have exempted English 5. The department samples lesser known subject matters like Postcolonial Literature, Gender and Cyberculture, and Contemporary Native American (English 58, 62, and 68 respectively).
English Professor Louis Renza prefers to believe that the English department 'focuses on part of a larger spectrum of literature that may compete with the classics.' 'Whatever classical means,' he adds, a common question in the English department. Renza believes, however, that 'de-emphasis is not necessarily neglect.'
Professor Peter Travis 'hasn't seen that shift [of classical de-emphasis] at Dartmouth.' Travis believes that the Dartmouth English department 'opens doors to postmodernism, but not to the diminishment or de-emphasis on the classics.'
Other scholars at Dartmouth, however, look at the classics from a differently. Professor Ivy Schweitzer, a Hart critic, says, 'I don't believe the Western World should be enthroned on the works of a few elite writers.' Schweitzer also questions the term 'classic.' She claims that most of what the scholarly world considers classics were unpopular and poorly received novels in their own times, and that what is a classic now may not be one in the future. 'The classics cannot just be read, but must be used to compare with more pertinent writers,' says Scweitzer. 'The Bible is taught so I can help my students understand the Puritan writings,' she says.
'I didn't know [Hart], and I didn't want to know him,' says Schweitzer, a former Hart colleague. She refuses to read Hart's book 'because I know Jeffrey's views and I don't think he's come up with anything new.' Schweitzer contends that Hart believes that the classics are 'natural' and 'God-given,' and that he feels strongly against "what he calls the 'victim groups',' the Women's Studies, Jewish, Native American and AAAS departments, according to Schweitzer.
Hart does not call for mere reading of the classics in his book, but study, analysis and comparison.
Other professors are more supportive of the classical cause. 'I really love Professor Hart's prose style, which manages to be passionate, precise, thought-provoking, and accessible,' says Professor Ernest Hebert, an English professor and novelist. 'I've read half of his new book, and I'm in admiration of his ability bring together the big ideas in classical literature for laymen such as myself.'
Professor Travis also encouraged Hart. Travis says that he is 'pleased that [Hart] is continuing as a scholar and is publishing.' Several other professors refused to comment on Hart personally, but said they were glad that he was publishing.
Hart's novel has impacted Dartmouth's campus. Those who dislike Hart avoid the book, but still agree that Hart is successful in his work.
Dartmouth's English department continues to claim that it teaches the classics, though a paucity of such works in department syllabi is evident. Students can find the 'classics' here at Dartmouth if they look hard enough—just not in the English department.