Changes in the GRP

A MAJOR overhaul of the General Reading Program required of all Dartmouth freshmen and sophomores has been announced by Prof. John L. Stewart of the English Department, chairman of the program.

Multiple-choice, machine-scored examinations will be dropped and in their place students will attend lectures by authors and specialists in the fields represented by the books read. One of these lectures, to be given during Freshman Week next fall, will be by Giorgio de Santillana of M.I.T., whose book The Crime of Galileo will be required summer reading for all incoming freshmen.

Other lecturers presently scheduled to participate in the program in the fall and winter terms are Robert Heilbroner, Prof. Carl Hempel of Princeton, andProf. Eliseo Vivas of Northwestern University.

Each freshman and sophomore will continue to read six books a year for the program; on three of these he will write commentaries as before and on the other three he will attend the newly planned lectures. The book lists for the program will be considerably shortened, to about eighteen for each class. This has been done to provide lists of more uniform high quality, to reduce the chance of overlapping with the reading done for courses, and to increase the chances for discussion among the students.

The program revisions have been shaped in part by student criticisms and suggestions, particularly those resulting from conferences with the Academic Committee of the Undergraduate Council. Two undergraduates, Richard S. Bragaw '62 and Kenneth J. Novak '63, have been named to the General Reading Program steering committee. They were selected by Palaeopitus.