A NEW DEGREE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 6

A NEW DEGREE.

Tifg' decision of the University Sbh- ] ate to aeek authority to establish • a | neTT degree, that of Bachelor of Litera-1 ture, is not one that will disturb • the i •minds of those who appreciate ■ the value of a conservative spirit in University government. The discussion that preceded the resolution embodying the new proposal does not make very clear - what* exactly, is wanted. The principal argument, in favour of the bw degree was the necessity for relieving Arts students from the intolerable tyranny- of compulsory matheßi.atiQSi yet. this argument was by several speakers coupled with a very decided reluctance to make- any changes in the schedule of subjects. required for ihe degree of Bachelor; of Arts, This apparent inconsistency .was by the contention, that, the Bachelor of Arts degree is, a " professional " degree, and exactly meetp an admitted need. Upon the face of it nothing would appear more {symmetrically logical than a trilogy of. inferior degrees, the B.A. degree in the ■ centre being flanked by the degrees .of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor;-of literature. _ , . ■ /■ . ■ On quite independent. grounds as good A <?a?e can be made out ,for.-a separate degree in literature as for. the separate degree in science that air ready exists. While -the. student wlioSe inclinations are towards mathematics and the physical sciences, has no cause for complaint, inasmuch .as the only check to his freedom of . study is one that could not be removed without loss to him, the student ; whose bent is in the direction of letters is forced into a course of , study that ,is as cramping and unhelpful as a straitjacket.' The new degree will end this one-sided situation and' its ittendant injustices. Those students ;.q whom there can be no efficient substitute for the B.A. as_ a "professional" degree will remain unaffected Dy the change. On the other hand the innovation will be a boon to many stulents; and it will place literature to a jositioh of honour in our University Colleges. One has but to contrast the iterary liveliness of the older English universities with the literary ' deadness " and desolation of our own colleges to understand the ample .promise of good that is contained in the Senate's decision.