20世紀前半におけるハーバード大学のカリキュラムの変遷

—自由選択科目制から集中-配分方式へ—

抄録

This article discusses the change in the undergraduate curriculum at Harvard University in the early twentieth century. In the late nineteenth century, President Charles W. Eliot introduced the students’ free electives system that encouraged students to choose courses as per their interests and study plans. At that time, this system had great influence over other American colleges and universities. Moreover, this system aided the establishment of several new academic fields in Harvard and transformed it to a “ university” in the true sense of the word. However, Eliot’s free elective system was quite radical compared with other forms of elective curricula. Eliot served for forty years, and Harvard changed its direction after his retirement. A. Lawrence Lowell, Eliot’s successor, adopted a curriculum called “concentration and distribution.” Eliot’s elective system has been widely known, and Lowell’s reform has been discussed in a few studies. This article discusses the transition process from Eliot’s “ free elective system” to Lowell’s “ concentration and distribution” system on the basis of original Harvard records and provides an outlook for future researches.