Princeton May Stress Humanities, Lessen Emphasis on Science Fields

Princeton University will stress the humanities and de-emphasize the social and natural sciences, if a new curriculum plan is approved.

Harold W. Dodds, president of the university, said yesterday he will recommend the establishment of a Council of the Humanities at the next meeting of the board of trustees on April 16.

Dodds stated, "The purpose of the proposed council is to strengthen the role of the humanities in the university as the preserver of tradition, the recorders and defenders of the values by which men live, the repository of the experience and knowledge of great cultures and of the behavior of man as an individual and a member of society."

Raphael Demos, Alford Professor of Natural Religion at Harvard, yesterday favored the proposed change. He said "Humanities is what feeds the spirit of man. It is what we fight for and we live for. Natural sciences and social sciences are means to an end; humanities is the end."

A new endowment fund of $7,000,000 should be raised if the proposed program is to succeed, according to Dodds.

Dodds said in the past the natural and physical sciences have received over two-thirds of the University's resources.