Havelock Says New Approaches Cause Classics Enrollment Gains

Enrollment and concentration in the Classics Department especially in Greek, have risen sharply since last year, Eric A. Havelock, professor of Greek and Latin announced yesterday. Havelock believes the interest here in Greek in unique in this country.

Although pleased by the trend here, he criticised the classics departments of other universities. "Across the country departments of classics are going to have to rethink," he said, since "they have been too intellectually timid, too bound by tradition."

Havelock also struck at the fact that "much of the Latin instruction introduced in high schools is pretty poor stuff."

The 70 students now concentrating in some phase of Greek or Latin represent a 75 per cent increase over the post-war number. While new interest in Latin has not been as noticeable as in Greek, there is increased interest in both languages. Havelock said the Department's encouraging dual concentration with subjects like French or English has played a large part in the increase.

"Most important," Havelock stressed, "has been the introduction of classics in the General Education courses, which help stimulate interest."

The Classics Department attempts to relate other cultures with the classics and to utilize a modern approach to reading through new criticism of literature.

Havelock terms this current revival in classical interests a "new philosophy," a phrase he coined to describe or explain the 25 per cent rise in general course enrollment in the past three years.