Word: brustein
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...certain as to what will happen to drama when Brustein settles in in 1980. Bloomfield predicts a shortage of space as well as a change in attitude when Brustein's American Repetory Company moves into the Loeb. On the other hand, several professors believe Brustein will resolve the art-courses-for-credit controversy. Those who have been agitating for more arts in academia await Brustein, a knight in shining armor who will revitalize the battle. The whole issue boils down to one question," says Robert J. Kiely, professor of English, "When does an activity become a course?" Kiely believes that...
Labeling Harvard's traditional resistance to arts-for-credit "medieval," James S. Ackerman, professor of Fine Arts, believes Brustein is "pretty powerful and persuasive and might change the concept that art is something you do with your hands and not your brain." Ackerman cites inconsistences in the arts policy: While Carpenter Center provides several studio courses for credit, other rigorous, programs given by the Arts Council or other arts groups which are very similar to VES courses do not receive official sanction. "Theres no philosophical justification for this," Ackerman says...
Bakanowsky also anticipates a change in current policy with Brustein's arrival "He's a doer, and with his help, things might change...
...Brustein says that as soon as he arrives he will investigate the historical and philosophical reasons for the non-credit tradition. "I can and will make a strong argument for drama getting course credit," he says, but he adds, "I would never make a case for credit for a performance apart from a class with theoretical content." But while more drama courses get credit with Brustein's leadership, it will probably be some time before all studio work is recognized at Harvard...
Though many professors have hope in Brustein, his battle will be far from easy. There remains diehard resistance to arts for credit, a movement backed by the belief that education doesn't necessitate credit and that students don't want anything different than what they have now. "Everyone knows the arts are wonderful and theraputic, but they're also hard work that take perserverence and often pain. Then again, just because they're educational doesn't mean that you have to get credit for it," Mayman says. "There's just no overwhelming need or desire for the arts as credit...