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Salient. The Newspaper of Victoria University College. Vol. 20, No. 4. May 3, 1956
Historical Soc
Historical Soc.
Hobbes and Natural Law
About 50 people attended the VUC Historical Society's third evening for the year on Monday, April 23. The occasion was a discussion on Hobbes and Natural Law between Mr. Brookes and Dr. Walsh of the School of Political Science.
Dr. Walsh spoke generally on the subject of Natural Law, with a brief history of the theory from earliest times, followed by an account of the part of Hobbes in the Natural Law tradition by Mr. Brookes. Discussion then opened up and from the floor. Dr. Munz spoke, and said that he was not too sure what it was all about.
The evening was a great success—was it that Political Science II was having a terms exam in the near future on the subject? The society's patron, Professor Wood, took the chair, after the president, Alan Ward, had opened the meeting.
Lined up for a future date is Dr. Guy Scholefield, who will talk to the society about some important research into New Zealand history on which he is at present working.
The teaching of History
The writing of history for schools and the teaching of history in schools were the two topics discussed by Mr. P. Morris of Wellington Teachers' Training College, and Mr. M. Turn-bull, lecturer in history, at a meeting of the Historical Society on Thursday, April 12, in the History Library.
Mr. Morris was pessimistic about the use or the value of history as it is taught in our high schools, he said. The theoretical aim—the Department's aim—was that history should make good citizens. However, it did not, nor was it meant to. In his experience, teaching history meant dinning a series of facts into the heads of semi-Illiterates. It could much better be left to the university.
Mr. Tumbull told of a series of pamphlet-lives of significant (not necessarily great) New Zealanders, by which history was induced into the minds of the primary school children. The idea, he said, was to get the child interested in the subject, and he will absorb the historical background without knowing it.
The meeting was well-attended. Under energetic guidance the Historical Society has interested many this year, and it seems to have a definite and useful role to play in the cultural life of the university.
Salient wishes to acknowledge with thanks the fact that tournament illustrations in the last issue were from photographs supplied free by Minifoto Studios.