Religion and Philosophy of Harvard University

Religion and Philosophy of Harvard University

The takeover of Harvard by the Unitarians in 1805 resulted in the secularization of the American college. In 1850 Harvard was the "unity of the Vatican." The "liberals" (Unitarians) allied themselves with high Federalists and began to create a set of private societies and institutions to strengthen their cultural and political authority, a movement that prefigured the emergence of the class of the Boston Brahmins. On the other hand, the theological conservatives used print media to argue for the maintenance of open debate and democratic governance through a broad public sphere, seeing the liberals movement as an attempt to create a cultural oligarchy opposition to congregational tradition and republican political principles.

In 1846, the natural history classes Louis Agassiz were acclaimed both in New York and on the campus of Harvard University. Agassiz's approach was distinctly idealist and raised Americans 'participation in the divine nature "and the possibility of understanding' intellectual existence". Agassiz's perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that a person can grasp the 'divine plan' in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on a presumed archetype for his evidence. This dual view of knowledge was in accordance with the teachings of Common Sense Realism derived from Scottish philosophers Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart, whose works were part of the Harvard curriculum at the time. The popularity of Agassiz's efforts to 'soar with Plato' probably also derived from other works that were exposed Harvard students, including Platonic treated by Ralph Cud worth, John Norris and, in a Romantic vein, Samuel Coleridge. The library records at Harvard reveal that the writings of Plato and his early modern and Romantic followers were almost as regularly read during the 19th century as those of the 'official philosophy' of the Scottish school more empirical and more deistic.

Charles W. Eliot, president 1869-1909, eliminated the favored position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening to self-direction. While Eliot was the most important figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated by a desire to secularize education, but by Transcendentalist unit convictions. Derived from William Ellery Channing and Ralph Waldo Emerson, these convictions were focused on the dignity and worth of human nature, the right and ability of each person to perceive truth, and the indwelling God in each person.

Century 20

During the 20th century, Harvard's international reputation grew as a growing endowment and prominent professors expanded the scope of the university. The explosive growth of the student population continued with the addition of new graduate schools and the expansion of the undergraduate program. Radcliffe College, founded in 1879 as sister School of Harvard College, became one of the most important schools for women in the United States. Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900.

Meritocracy

James Bryant Conant (president, 1933-1953) reinvigorated creative scholarship to guarantee its preeminence among research institutions. He saw higher education as a vehicle of opportunity for the talented rather than an entitlement for the wealthy programs, so Conant devised to identify, recruit, and support talented youth. In 1943, he asked the faculty make a definitive statement about what general education ought to be, in and high school level. The resulting report, published in 1945, was one of the most influential manifestos in the history of American education in the 20th century.
In 1945-1960 opened admissions policies to bring students a wider range of applicants. I do not draw students from the wealthy elite prep schools in New England, the college student was open to middle-class students struggling public schools, and many more Jews and Catholics were admitted, but few blacks, Hispanics or Asians.

Women

The women remained separated at Radcliffe, though more and more took Harvard classes. However, Harvard's undergraduate population remained predominantly male, with about four men attending Harvard University for every woman studying at Radcliffe. Following the merger of Harvard and Radcliffe admissions in 1977, the proportion of female students increased steadily, reflecting a trend throughout higher education in the United States. Harvard's graduate schools, which had accepted females and other groups in greater numbers even before the college, also became more diverse in the period after World War II.

In 1999, Radcliffe College, founded in 1879 as the "Harvard Annex for Women", merged formally with Harvard University, becoming the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Drew Gilpin Faust, the Dean of Radcliffe, became the first woman president of Harvard in 2007.

Liberalism

Harvard and its affiliates, like many American universities, are considered by some to be politically liberal (left of center). Conservative author William F. Buckley, Jr. quipped that he and not governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty, Richard Nixon famously referred to Harvard as the "Kremlin on the Charles" around 1970, and Vice President George HW Bush disparaged what he saw as Harvard's liberalism during the 1988 presidential election. Such is his reputation as a bastion of liberalism and privilege alumni who aspire to public office sometimes underestimate their affiliation with the university.

Recent history

President Lawrence Summers resigned his presidency in 2006. His resignation came a week before a second planned vote of no confidence by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. Former President Derek Bok served as interim president. Members of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which instructs graduate students in GSAS and undergraduates in Harvard University, had passed an earlier motion of "lack of confidence" in leadership 15 March 2005 by a vote of 218-185 Summers, with 18 abstentions. The movement of 2005 was triggered by comments about the causes of gender demographics in academia made at a closed academic conference and leaked to the press. In response, Summers convened two committees to study this issue: the Task Force on Women Faculty and the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering. Summers had also pledged $ 50 million to support their recommendations and other proposed reforms. Drew Gilpin Faust is the 28th president of Harvard. An American historian, former dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Lincoln Professor of History at Harvard University, Faust is the first female president in the history of the university.