HANOVER HOLIDAY 1947
Leading Members of the Faculty Named to Give Lectures June 16-19 In Eighth Session of Alumni College
THE HANOVER HOLIDAY, in announcing the plans for its eighth session, faces few of the problems it dealt with last year. Hundreds of alumni, who came to its sessions a year ago, took away all doubt about its ability to survive a lapse of four years of war, and a large attendance is therefore expected this June. Since the reunion difficulties are considerably smaller, the Holiday will last one week, as it did in its earlier career, and that will be the week between Commencement and class reunions. More exactly, it will be June 16 through 19, Monday afternoon through Thursday night, and these four days provide for eight opportunities to hear members of the College Faculty, and to tell them, afterwards, whether you agree with them or not.
Since the international situation continues to be our most important subject for consideration, as it undoubtedly will be for some time, four of the meetings will be devoted to some of its phases. The other four meetings cover a nice miscellany of topics, which have as a possible unifying theme illustration of the widespread interests of the Faculty, and of the alumni as well. In part the program represents requests made by former students of our alumni college, and all the talks are based on careful detective work designed to uncover the new and the stimulating. The Hanover Holiday, never slow to praise its offerings, hasn't the faintest hesitation in telling the friends of the College that the program this year is not to be missed.
The series opens on Monday afternoon, June 16, with a talk by Earl Cranston '16, Phillips Professor of Religion, on "The State of Religion in America." After Dartmouth, Mr. Cranston studied at Drew Theological Seminary, Columbia and Harvard. He has taught both history and religion, at Harvard, Redlands and West China, and has taken part in many international conferences. He has a welldeserved reputation as an authoritative and interesting speaker; and certainly there is no doubt about the importance of his Hanover Holiday topic.
Monday evening offers the first of four talks on international politics: "Japan's Prospects," by John W. Masland, Professor of Government. Professor Masland has just come to Dartmouth from Stanford, where he taught for some years; from the State Department, and from Japan, where he was political adviser to General MacEight Arthur. A recognized authority on Japan, he has much to say of interest and value.
Tuesday morning Allan Macdonald, Professor of English, is on the program, after too long a rest since his last Holiday talk. Recently he has been turning his enthusiasm to a life of Richard Hovey, and will talk about him. While anybody in the least connected with Dartmouth knows something about Hovey, there is a lot more to know, of great interest not only to Dartmouth, but to everybody else. Hovey had much to do with making Dartmouth what it is today; he was, even more, a great person.
Tuesday evening Prof. Earl Sikes of the Economics Department talks on "Germany's Prospects." As an authority on modern German political and economic matters, and as an effective and able speaker, Professor Sikes is down for the difficult task of explaining what is being done to Germany these days, and what the consequences are apt to be. Since undoubtedly the peace treaty will still be a matter of debate in June, this talk should be of great value in helping us shape our opinions, confused by so much contradictory evidence.
Wednesday morning Prof. George Dimitroff will advance beyond the international, with "The State of the Cosmos." New to Dartmouth this year as Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Mr. Dimitroff has already made a local reputation as a stimulating speaker. He comes here after serving as superintendent of the observatory at Harvard, Massachusetts, and after four years in the Navy, where, as a Commander, he did technical work of great value in Europe and Japan.
Wednesday evening Joseph McDonald, Professor of Economics, enters on another highly controversial topic, "The Foreign Trade Policy of the United States." Well known in the field of foreign trade, and frequently voted Dartmouth's most popular teacher, Professor McDonald has nevertheless an evening's work cut out for him. Even now, in February, Congress has begun to stew over trade relations; the Geneva Conference, scheduled for April, will add more to discuss, and on this topic, too, the evidence is contradictory, even if perhaps many of us believe there is only one possible path to follow. As to which path, let's wait until June 18.
Thursday morning Bancroft H. Brown, Professor of Mathematics, will climb up from the basement of Parkhurst Hall, where he has been doing the work of acting Dean of the Faculty, and talk about "The Old Farmer's Almanac." Everybody has read that, or a similar almanac—but have you any idea how much of it is reliable? Professor Brown knows, just as he knows you can't win on the horses but that is another talk. Gardeners, golf players, picnickers, skiers, amateur astronomers, and mathematicians—come and get the inside story.
Thursday evening the Holiday ends with "The Polar Regions in the Modern World," by Trevor Lloyd, Professor of Geography. An unusually effective teacher and speaker, Professor Lloyd knows the Arctic well, by personal experience and as one of the founders of the Arctic Institute. Why is there all the to-do these days about the Polar areas? He will tell you.
That is the program. It is a good one. It is worth coming to, and even paying a lot of money to hear. But the latter is not necessary. The Hanover Inn, of course, is open to those who make early reservations, and one of the better dormitories will be set aside for the Holiday, with rooms at low rates. Eating possibilities will be vastly improved over last year. There will be plenty of time for golf or tennis or swimming. Baker Library will be open, and so will the other college buildings. The Inn will take care of small children during the day, if you bring them along—the Holiday has always been a family institution, and definitely co-educational. In fact, the women have so often been our better students that I've wondered why Dartmouth sticks only to admitting men. The weather that week will be good. There is, really, no sound reason why you should not plan on a vacation in Hanover.
HANOVER HOLIDAY SPEAKER: Allan Macdonald, Professor of English, will have a topic of special Dartmouth interest when he lectures on Richard Hovey in the alumni college in June. He is working on the life of Dartmouth's poet laureate, and is the author of the article on the following page.
