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are to develop undergraduates in the practice of English composi tion in its varied forms and to provide them with a first-hand knowledge of the masterpieces of English literature in their various aspects.
But he continues the opportunity to do this successfully with students whose native language is not English, depends largely on the amount of general knowledge which the student possesses and upon the student's readiness to handle the language as a living thing, to be spoken, as well as read and written. The Professor reports that it is gratifying to note that many of the students who come to the University nowadays are in these two ways better equipped than they used to be.
The Group of Letters and Philosophy. Closely allied to the Department of English is the Group of Letters and Philosophy of which the Professor of English is the official adviser.
The Professor of English calls attention to the grave need for the appointment of a reader in philosophy not only for the sake of bringing this group to its highest efficiency, but also in the interest of other groups of studies where philosophic subjects are insisted upon. The following paragraph is taken from the Professor's report :-
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"When the Group of Letters and Philosophy was established it was meant to provide a typical
pure arts group, where a full four years course in a western language and literature should be supplemented by courses philosophy and history, to make students familiar with the mental processes and system of ideas which underlie western language and literature. But the fourth year course in philosophy has had to be dropped as there is no one to teach it; and the courses in logic and in ethics are organised on a part-time basis. Such an arrangement is most unsatisfactory. For the Group of Letters and Philo- sophy, the present inadequate staffing means that students in their fourth year, instead of taking a subject which is an organic part of their group, have to take from other groups fourth year subjects which are the culmination of these other groups: driving them to think that there is little reason for beginning a group from which they will be compelled to switch when they reach their final year. For the teaching of logic and ethics, it means that subjects which ought to be active courses in precise reasoning and
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individual discussion, are reduced to mere topics of class lectures and text-books. In this respect the Chinese studies in the Faculty of Arts are better provided for than Western studies."
The Department of Education.-The Professor reports that there is still a demand for graduate teachers, no difficulty being experienced in finding appointments for those who pass through the course. He adds that during the year a group of graduates met each fortnight to discuss educational problems. The Professor of Anatomy has again delivered a short course of lectures on the Nervous Structure of the human body, the object of this course being to help students in Psychological studies. The need for a lecturer in education has long been stressed.
The Department of Commerce and Social Science.-The staff of this Department consists of the Professor of Economics and Political Science, the Lecturer in Commerce, a part time Lecturer in Accounting and Business Finance and a part time Lecturer in Pacific Shipping and Trade.
Biology has resumed its place as a subject which may be taken in the second year course of the Social Science Group of Studies, as an alternative to Chinese or French. Geography may be taken as an optional subject in the first year course of the Social Science Group of Studies, the alternatives being French or Chinese. In the Commercial Group of Studies geography is a compulsory subject in the first year. The Professor of Economics and Political Science remarks that the introduction of an extended course in geography would increase the effectiveness of the syllabus in each of the groups of studies to which reference has just been made. He hopes that it will be possible before long to set up a second year course in geography.
The Department of Geography.-During the period under review Rev. Father D. J. Finn, s.J. was appointed part-time Lecturer in Geography. Geography is at present taught as a first year optional subject only in the following groups of studies:--Group 1-Letters and Philosophy; Group 3-Social Science; Group 4 (c)—the general group of studies in the Depart- ment for the Training of Teachers; and Group 5-Commerce The University was able at the beginning of 1931 to make a grant which was spent on the purchase of a certain amount of additional equipment for the study and teaching of geography.
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