life ignorant of the fundamental laws of chemical action. If you go along in that line of argument, you end by compelling a lad to know everything before he enters the university. If I had my way, and could wipe out the traditions of the past, I should vary that entrance examination. I should hold on to the old tradition of the university that it was ready to receive everybody who was likely to profit by its instructions. I should make the examination look, not backward as it does now, but forward, and should only insist that the lad must give such proofs of intelligence and industry as to lead to the hope that the years of university life would not be spent in vain. When the lad has really entered the university (at times he does not do so until he has spent two or even three years at the place in preparation, and sometimes goes away from the place without having really been admitted), it seems to me there should be a still wider scope for his studies. He has even now, it is true, an opportunity to take a degree in one or other of several branches of learning, but in each case he must follow out a particular schedule which has been laid down, and which compels him to walk along a particular path and no other. If he wishes, for example, to study mathematics with philosophy, he would find that he could not do so, for in the examinations mathematicians have nothing to do with philosophy, and philosophy nothing to do with mathematics; and so in other things. I venture to think that this is not a satisfactory condition of things, and that throughout the whole academic course there should be a freedom of the young mind to develop in the line in which it was intended to develop. When I urge this upon my friends they all say, "It is very good, but it is impossible; the examination machinery would become so complicated as to break down." But I would ask the question, Are examinations all in all? Were the examinations made for universities, or were universities made for examinations? I myself have no doubt about the answer. I trust that this new university, which can walk with freedom along new lines, will find some way of so arranging studies and examinations that the two will not conflict, and that anybody coming here will find that the particular gifts that have been given to him, and which it was intended should be developed, will meet their fullest expansion. Lastly, there was another feature which the old university possessed and which I may also call an essential feature of a university; that is the spirit of inquiry. No university can prosper as a university that not only does not do its best to favor special inquiries when these are started within it, but also in the whole course of its teaching does not develop or strive to develop the spirit of inquiry. Now, here again, I fear that examinations-such, at all events, is my experience-are antagonistic to inquiry; and I would suggest that in arranging examinations one ought always to look ahead to see how far one can possibly order those examinations so as to favor the teaching which teaches in the real and true way-teaching by regarding each bit of learning as in itself an act of inquiry, and so as to favor in the highest degree actual inquiry when it is taken in hand. This of course is antagonistic to one function of examinations, namely, that of putting young men to compete against each other. You can not so judge inquiries as to put the inquirers in any class list or in any order; the most you can do is to give an inquiry the stamp of approval of the university, a testimony that the inquiry has been carried out in a satisfactory way. It is true that in this way you lose that which is sometimes thought to be of great value, emulation between the scholars; but if you take away that kind of emulation you substitute for it another one far more strong and effective, that emulation that comes of striving with nature. I take it that the good which is done to a lad in starting him upon an inquiry is infinitely greater than any which can be gained by competition with his fellow-students. Here I am glad to say a good word for my own university; for we have in a very quiet way, and unobserved, secured the adoption of an enactment which allows a lad to enter the university and obtain his degree and all which follows upon that without entering into a single examination. At the present moment it is possible for one-it is true, under exceptional circumstances-to come to the University of Cambridge in England, and if he convinces a competent body of judges that he is a person likely to carry on inquiry in a successful manner, he can enter the univeristy as a student; and if he satisfies another body of men after a time that his inquiries have resulted in a real contribution to knowledge, he can secure his degree. He can get that without ever having touched a written examination paper, and I am proud that we are able to offer that to the world; for it has happened again and again that a man who had real genius for a particular line of inquiry stumbled over the preliminary studies of which I have spoken, knocked at the door of our university in vain and was sent away. Now such an one would be admitted, and I venture to say that in the long run the university will be the gainer. These, then, are some few thoughts concerning universities and their methods. I say I have purposely learned nothing about your enactments; but from what I know of your short past I feel confident that this university will in the future be conspicuous for progress. May I hope that it will carry on education along some of the lines which I have indicated to-day, and perhaps some day we in the old country may mend our ways after your pattern. THE UNIVERSITY OF TURIN [By M. HAGUENIN.'] The university year lasts theoretically nine months and a half. from October 15 to July 30; but this includes the examinations. The lectures do not begin until the early part of November and end June 15. They really last, then, a little more than seven months. From this must be deducted the vacations, Sundays, and holidays, twelve days for Christmas and New Years, eighteen days for the carnival and Easter, the national holiday, and the birthdays of the king, the queen, etc., so that only one hundred and fifty days are left for study. This time is also often abbreviated by parades, insurrections, and strikes of the students, who are anxious to prolong the vacations and insist on having their dignity respected. ORGANIZATION OF INSTRUCTION, The licenza liceale (the equivalent of our baccalaureate, with the exception that the professors do not pass upon it) confers the right of inscription at the university and of obtaining the inscription book in which is certified the payment of dues and fees and the attendance of the student at the obligatory courses. By virtue of the inscription and the observance of these conditions the students can pass the “special examinations" and apply for the academic degrees. course. Special examinations are those which are restricted to a single "discipline" or study, and comprise the programme approved by the faculty at the beginning of the year, or, in short, the programme that the professor proposes to follow in his These examinations take place either at the end of the year or, when the matter studied is distributed over several years and forms a whole not easily divisible, at the end of the total course bearing on this subject. After the student has passed the special examinations in all the matters prescribed he obtains the certificate of license. Besides the special examinations, and following all of them, there is an examination of "laurea," which corresponds to the doctorate as they understand it in Ger 1 M. Haguenin represented in his mission the Société d'enseignement supérieur, This account is translated from a communication of his to the Revue internationale de l'enseignement, April and May, 1898. many. In order to be admitted to the "laurea" examination the student must have attended the courses of the faculty during the prescribed number of years (medicine and surgery, six years; jurisprudence, four years; physical, mathematical, and natural sciences, four years; philosophy and letters, four years; pharmacy, four years), and have passed the special examinations in all the obligatory matters. This examination for "laurea" consists in the discussion of a principal dissertation written by the candidate upon some thesis selected by himself and other less important theses, and in one or more practical tests. All examinations are public. THE UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL-THE PROFESSORS. The government of the universities belongs, under the supervision of the minister and in conformity with the laws and regulations, to the following authorities: (1) The rector (who has charge of the clerical force and the treasury), who is elected for ten years and is taken from each faculty in succession. (2) The academic council. (3) The president (dean) of the faculty. (4) Council of the faculty. (5) General assembly of the professors. The official instruction of the professor takes the double form of lectures and discussions. He may devote a part of each lecture to a colloquy with the students. There are liberi docenti, extraordinary and ordinary professors, and chargé ; de cours.1 One can not become an ordinary—that is, full-professor without having been a professor extraordinary. The professorships are filled either by considering the known merit of the applicant (titres) or upon examination. Among the titles (proofs of the instruction he has given and copies of his publications) there must be at least one original printed memoir on a subject pertaining to the science in which the chair to be filled gives instruction. For the chair of Latin or Greek the memoir must be in Latin. These "titles" are submitted to a commission of five members, selected as follows: Each ordinary professor of the faculty or school to which the chair to be filled belongs proposes five names, selected from those of professors who have taught, or savants who have cultivated, the part of the science in question. The ten names which have obtained the greatest number of votes are published in the official bulletin of the ministry, and among these ten names the minister selects the five members of the commission; but for "special reasons" he may increase the number by two or four, and take these supplementary commissioners from outside the ten names given him. The commission then proceeds to the examination of the titles, and votes by secret ballot (yes or no) upon the eligibility of each candidate. By open voting it assigns their rank to the candidates who have been declared eligible and their points of relative merit. If the commission judges that the titles presented do not allow of a decision as to eligibility or to classification it proceeds to an examination, which consists of (1) a discussion maintained by each competitor upon one of the printed memoirs, which must last at least an hour for each competitor; (2) a lecture of at least forty minutes in length; (3) one or more practical experiments, if one of the experimental sciences is the subject of competition. The results of the examinations are judged, conjointly with the titles, by a single vote. A report of the examination is sent to the superior council, which adds its own comments to it, and it is then printed in the official gazette. 1 The salaries are, for a professor extraordinary, 3,500 lire ($700), 3,000 lire ($600), down to 1,250 lire ($250); ordinary professor, 5,000 lire ($1,000), with an increase of 500 lire ($100) every five years until 8,000 lire ($1,600) is reached; for a chargé de cours, 1,250 lire ($250), and for a libero docente, 12 lire ($2.50) per student A professor extraordinary can become an ordinary one either at his own request or by the proposal of the faculty. The minister submits the request or proposal to a commission appointed as above. Professors extraordinary can be promoted to ordinary, provided (1) that they have been professors extraordinary for at least three scholastic years consecutively; and (2) that they present new scientific titles and give evidence of their ability to teach. The liberi docenti acquire the right of teaching either by titles after due notice from the faculty to the superior council and a favorable decision by the latter by a two-thirds majority, or by an examination which consists (1) of a dissertation upon a subject proposed by the examining committee and which the candidate is allowed three months to prepare; (2) of a discussion of at least one hour's length upon this subject and upon the part of science which he is to teach; (3) of a lecture of at least forty minutes in length upon a subject proposed by the commission. The candidate, in order to be judged fit to teach, must obtain at least two-thirds of the whole number of marks. Finally, ordinary or extraordinary professors may be chargés de cours (but only of one course outside of their own); so may doctors who are fellows of the faculties, the liberi docenti, etc. The minister appoints chargés de cours on the nomination of the faculty, if obligatory instruction is in question, and on advice of the faculty and superior council in case of private instruction. The University of Turin is the second in the kingdom for the number of students. It had 2,021 on January 1, 1893, and 2,434 January 1, 1896. The increase is constant and, as it seems, proportional to that of other universities. It is therefore due to a general increase of the university population and to the desire which is more and more diffused of occupying places which are growing less and less numerous. The 2,434 students for 1896-97 were divided as follows: Medicine and surgery (six years), 741; law (four years), 631; physical, mathematical, and natural sciences (four years), 338; letters and philosophy (four years), 205, course of notariat and procedure (two years), 64; course of pharmacy (laurea four years besides practica one year, or diploma three years besides practica one year), 245; obstetrics for midwives (two years), 191; special hearers, 16. I have studied the annual catalogues of the University of Turin and have found material for statistics which I give below: FACULTY OF MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND NATURAL SCIENCES. These statistics show that the average of success is about 83 per cent and that of failures 17 per cent. These averages would surprise a Frenchman, and seem to indicate a good deal of indulgence on the part of the professors. It is possible, indeed, that the independence of the professors in regard to the candidates may not be perfect. They can not forget that they are their students. They know them too well and know that too great severity might provoke revolts, against which the higher authorities would not sustain the professors, or at least lead to unpleasant antipathy. On the other hand, the prosperity of the university might suffer from too great severity. All this is true or probable, and from this point of view the want of State examinations or of general examinations common to all universities, conducted by a jury which is free from all local influence, makes itself felt. But it should be remembered that on account of the close relation between the examination and the course-the limited field which has been gone over by the professor determining the extent of the examination-the preparation is easy, and, so to say, too easily completed. The student has only to listen. A little attention is all that is necessary, and the memory is more called upon than the intelligence. That is why these averages prove less than one would believe, and are against the professors and in favor of the students. If the success is too easy, the fault lies with the organization of the instruction. There is more than one occasion for criticism, notably in the distribution of the different courses. The great principle which rules the university is that of liberty both for the professor and the student. This liberty does not accommodate itself to a useful system of examinations, which carries with it the requirements of regularity. The professor gives what lectures he chooses and the student follows the ones he likes, on condition that he enters his name for the year in at least three obligatory studies, each calling for three lectures a week of an hour each. Besides, 1 This comment is interesting, as indicating the grounds on which a French professor would defend the system of State examinations in his own country. (AM. ED.) |