THE FUNCTION OF A UNIVERSITY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22319, 5 February 1938, Page 14

THE FUNCTION OF A UNIVERSITY

Cambridge Economist’s Views CULTURAL AND VOCATIONAL ASPECTS The commerce course at Melbourne University is considered to be an ideal university course by Mr Colin Clark, a prominent statistician and economist at Cambridge University, who is visiting Christchurch after spending some time in Australia, where he lectured at the Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide Universities. He spoke very favourably of the commerce course at Melbourne, which he considered to be a very satisfactory compromise between the cultural and vocational concepts of a university course, and mentioned that it was inaugurated by a Christchurch man, Professor D. B. Copland. “The trouble about the economics courses in Europe is that they are too theoretical, but in Australia and apparently in New Zealand they are treated from a more practical aspect, and it will not be long before some useful discoveries are made. The university teachers are certainly not politically prejudiced, but they study the political situation very carefully. They are free from party prejudice, but they link up the study of economics with politics, and the result is that all political parties are willing to listen to them.” Teaching of Economics Mr Clark expressed the view that economics was the subject on which centred the controversy as to the function of the university in modern times —whether it should be a purely cultural or vocational centre. It was his view that there should be a compromise, and it was for effecting this compromise that he praised the commerce course at Melbourne. “Students at Cambridge are now much more concerned with earning their living than they were 30 years ago,” he said, “but the university curriculum has not been changed.” The Oxford “Greats,” the study of the classics philosophy, and ancient history, was still largely considered a qualification for any position, although some business men were becoming sceptical about the value of this qualification. At Cambridge the study of pure mathematics held somewhat the same position. Speaking of the organisation of university life in general, he said that he did not think the presence of part-time or evening students at a university was a hindrance to its work, provided that their curricula were not too crammed so that they did not_ have time to enter into general student activities. He held that these, which included sport _ and social activities, debating, and the formation of clubs for discussing such things as theology and politics should make up more than half the life at a university. University students should in a large degree educate themselves. Mr Clark’s criticism of Melbourne University was that it did not make sufficient provision for such activities.