Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-21
ANTIOCH COLLEGE SYSTEM
AVOIDS MASS TREATMENT
Every Student Chooses One "Field of
Concentration" Besides Liberal Course.
Industry Takes Half Time.


derly and integrated plan Of study.
The development Of such a program
requires every effort to displace aca-
denlic anarchy by discipline and organ
izatton. Required sequences of courses;
avoidance of casual overlapping Of
subject matter in related courses
these and many other economies make
possible the rather heavy requirements
OF Antioch In the field of liberal educ
cation.
Each student is expected to have q
substantial amount of composition and
literature; four or more years Of his
tory, government AID economics; q
year Of philosophy and a year of es-
thetics. The content and distribution
Of there required courses are subjects
Of continuous research and study by a
faculty committee. They are not born
OF happy inspiration, and they do not
survive by chance.
Fields Of Concentration" Chosen.
In addition to the required liberal
courses, every Antioch student is asked
to prepare himself for major life in
terest by a freely chosen field CT con-
centration" which occupies not less
than third Of his college time. These
fields Of concentration prepare for ca
reers IN business, in literature, in edu-
cation, In pure and applied science, in
physics, chemistry, geology, biology and
psychology, in economies, in engineer
ing, in journalism and in home econ
omics Other fields of concentration
prepare for professional schools Of law,
medicine and architecture.
The fulhllment of the requirement
for the field, however, both prepares
for a life calling, which is the aim of
professional schools, and supplies occa-
sion for that mastery of a subject
which y the aim Of the UNDERGRADUATE
college major" The uniting OF these
CWo purposes In common process is
a fundamental educational economy.
After meeting the requirements as to
liberal courReS and the field Of con-
centration, a quarter or a third of the
students time is still available for
electives.
Hygienic Living Emphasized.
If the Antioch program is to develop
symmetry Of personality, unusual en-
phasis must be placed upon certain
college activities and studies. Thus. at
Antioch, student health and q kncwI-
edge Of hygienic living are given more
than the accustomed consideration,
through periodical physical exanina-
tons with corrective work where it is
needed, and in lectures, conferences
and hygiene courses.
The average student sees one OF the
college physicians i've times a year
Practically all Antioch students are in
atnlet1cs, ana the strong varied in
tramural athletic program tar out.
weighs In active interest intercollegiate
sports.
Deep-seated blights and wraps of
personality have their origin In very
early childhood to far greater degree
than generally is recognized. In COL
lege years these disabilities can be
college students are wisely Trained in
understanding childhood they can
greatly reduce those elements OF tlag-
eoy In the next generation.
Therefore, the Antioch nursery school
and courses In child psychology and
enid care are maintained in the hope
that not only those 'majoring'' in home
economics will enroll but that a large
number of young men and women viii
prepare themselves for intelligent un-.
Outstanding Of the next generation. A
majority OF the women at Antioch, re-
CARELESS Of their fields, take these
courses.
The Antioch program does not stop
at the careful, selection of required sub
jectS nor at re-emphasis or re-evalua-
ton OF courses ordinarily included In a
college curriculum. One-half Of the
Antioch students time is passed in in
dustry, in practical work. The student
works during alternate five or ten week
periods. About 300 pairs of these CO.
operative students are employed in ITS
firms or institutions in IL States.
The primary aim Of this part-time
work is the enlarging and stabilizing of
personality by development of quail
ties of character and of Judgment that
is largely beyond the range Of college
halls. The Antioch graduate Is not an
academic theorist. He knows the stuff
he is made of, and he knows life at first
hand.
Helps Student Find Calling.
The pursuit of these primary aims
also helps the student to find a calling
anc to prepare himself in it. Oppor-
tunity for self support is secondary to
these more important aims, yet that OPP
portunity virtually cuts in two the cost
OF college ducation
The aim Of the college personnel de-
partment is to search America from
the Mississippi to C Atlantic for those
exceptional firms and institutions in
which great traditions are being built
and where great personalities are deter
mining policies and inspiring men; to
ind in them working opportunities for
young men and women where they may
acquire those traditions and outlooks by
actual experience, whilo at the same
time they are developing their own
practical life The personnel directors
and other faculty members undertake to
furnish counsel and guidance which may
turn what is only a good job into a
significant educational experience
Antioch has partly but not fully
achieved this purpose. For any CO.
operative college to see the part-tirne
iO6 oh -.
calling may hurt the standing of what
is an invaluable educational resource in
building character and personality.
Autonomous Program" Adopted.
The Antioch autonomous program"
by which formal class room recitations
are largely replaced by self-directed
study and informal conference, Is an
other feature of the Antioch program
which greatly increases responsible in
itiative. It Is one Of the most notable
of the Antioch undertakings. Origi-
mated in 1921, it has gradually devel-
oped until nearly all work after the
sophomore year is now done autono-
The method is quite similar to that
Of the graduate school seminar. Along
with the autonomous program has come
the policy Of comprehensive examina-
when the student is examined IN each
academic subject he has pursued dur
ing his coursC.
The cooperative program and the
autonomous plan together make 1t pos
sible to serve highly specialized inter-
ests of individual students, as in met
labor economies, railroad
investments. aeronautics, hydro-elec-
trio engineering, book publishing, and
the teaching of dramatics, where ether
wise small college would be unable
to provide the necessary facilities.