Tag: Carver

Harvard. Academic record of Vervon Orval Watts, Ph.D. 1932

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-12-12
No Comments on Harvard. Academic record of Vervon Orval Watts, Ph.D. 1932

Vervon Orval Watts (1898-1993) was a faithful libertarian disciple of Harvard economics professor Thomas Nixon Carver. One of his course outlines from his time at Antioch College in Ohio has been transcribed and posted earlier.

In this post you will find the paper record of Watts’ march through the Division of History, Government and Economics that was rewarded with the award of a Ph.D. by the department of economics in 1932.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Vervon Orval Watts, March 25, 1898, Walkerton, [Ontario] Can.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

University of Manitoba, 1914-1918; Harvard University, 1921—
Teaching Positions: Brandon College, Jan. 1 – July 1, 1919; Gilbert Plains, high school, 1919-1921; Harvard, Assistant in Economics, 1923-24 (Asst.); 1926-27 (gr.); T + T 1927-29.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B., University of Manitoba, 1918
A.M., Harvard University, 1923.

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your under-graduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc. In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)

History:— Greek + Roman, 1 course; European, 2 1/2 courses; English History, 2 courses; Canadian History 1/2 course.
Economics:— Courses in Theory, Economic History, Public Finance, Money + Banking, Foreign Trade + Finance.
Government:— 1 course, Logic:— 1 course.
Languages:— Greek + Latin.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

Economic Theory and Its History.
At Harvard – Ec. 11, Ec. 14; at Manitoba – course in Theory + its History. Private Reading.
Public Finance.
At Harvard, Ec. 31; at Manitoba – 1 course. Private Reading.
International Trade + Tariff Policy.
At Harvard – Ec. 9b, Ec. 39;
At Manitoba – 1 course; Private Reading.
Economics of Agriculture.
At Harvard – Ec. 9a, Ec. 32;
– Assistant in Ec. 9a, 1923,
Private Reading.
Sociology.
At Harvard, Ec. 8,
–Assistant in Ec. 8, 1923
Private Reading.
History of England since the Reign of Henry VII.
At Harvard: Hist. 12; Auditor in Hist. S9 + Hist. 11.
At Manitoba: 1 course
Teaching of English History in high school; Private Reading.

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Sociology.

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

The Development of the Technological Concepts of Production in Anglo-American Thought.

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

I should prefer the General Examination not before Feb. 1. Middle of March or few days after. [Handwritten note: “May 27/32”]

X. Remarks

Professor Carver.

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] T. N. Carver

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Vervon Orval Watts

Approved: January 11, 1924

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock, May 29, 1923.

Ability to use German certified by C. J. Bullock, May 29, 1923.

Date of general examination Monday, March 31, 1924. Passed. T.N.C.

Thesis received March 28, 1932

Read by Professors Carver and Taussig

Approved May 16, 1932

Date of special examination Friday, May 27, 1932

Recommended for the Doctorate June 9, 1932

Degree conferred June 23, 1932

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 29, 1923

Dear Haskins:

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. V. O. Watts and find that he has such a knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the Ph.D. degree.

Very sincerely yours
[signed]
C. J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination, date and
examiners
[carbon copy]

Division of History, Government, & Economics
Harvard University

21 March 1924

My dear Mr. Watts:

We are arranging your general examination for the Ph.D. in Economics for Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m. Your committee will consist of Professors Carver (chairman), Abbott, Williams, Bullock, and Dr. Meriam.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Mr. V. O. Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination
Information Sent to Examiners
[carbon copy]

Division of History, Government, and Economics
Harvard University

24 University Hall
25 March 1924

My dear Professor [blank]

Since the Ph.D. pamphlet is not yet out, I am sending you herewith the information which will appear in it about V. O. Watts, whose general examination is to be held on Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Carver
Abbott
Williams
Bullock
Meriam

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination, Watts Reminder
[carbon copy]

27 March 1924

My dear Mr. Watts:

This is to remind you that your general examination for the Ph.D. in Economics is to be held on Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m. in Widener N.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination, Carver Reminder
[carbon copy]

27 March 1924

My dear Professor Carver:
This is to remind you that you are chairman of the committee for the general examination of Mr. V. O. Watts for the Ph.D. in Economics, to be held on Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m., in Widener N. I enclose Mr. Watts’s papers herewith. The other members of the committee are Professors Abbott, Williams, Bullock, and Dr. Meriam.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Professor T. N. Carver

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed General Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 1, 1924

Dear Professor Haskins:

I beg to report that the general examination for the Ph.D. degree of Mr. Vernon [sic] Orval Watts was held in Widener N, Monday afternoon, March 31. The committee voted unanimously to accept Mr. Watt’s examination as satisfactory.

Signed: T.N. Carver
Chairman of the Committee

Dean C. H. Haskins

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thesis summary still needed
[carbon copy]

March 29, 1932

Dear Mr. Watts:

Your thesis has arrived in good shape. I do not find any summary with it, however. Each thesis is required to be accompanied by a summary, not over 1200 words, which is later published by the University, along with others, in a volume. I note that you have a Digest at the beginning of your thesis; perhaps you intended this to be the summary. However, it should not be bound in with the thesis, and the form should be consecutive and not in outline as you have it. It will be a simple matter for you to re-write this Digest into an appropriate summary.

I believe I wrote you as to the date for your examination, May 27. I should be glad to hear from you confirming this, as the pamphlet goes to press soon, and I cannot hold dates open after April 1st.

Sincerely yours,
Secretary

Mr. V. O. Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Last-minute thesis preparation

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

March 5, 1932

Secretary of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Sir:

I have almost completed my doctoral dissertation in the field of economics, and I wish to be informed if there are any rules concerning the nature of the binding for the volume.

I am writing the thesis in Sociology under Professor Carver. Shall I send it to you or to him when it has been completed?

Very truly yours,
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scheduling Special Examination

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

March 15, 1932

Miss Helen Prescott
772 Widener Memorial Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Miss Prescott:

I should like to have my special examination placed at the end of May or the beginning of June if that will be convenient for Professor Carver.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

V. O Watts: Apology for late thesis summary

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

March 31, 1932

Dear Miss Prescott:

I regret that my delay in writing you and in sending the summary of my thesis should have caused you the trouble and annoyance of writing me age in about it. For the past two weeks I have been exceedingly busy finishing the thesis while carrying the work of four courses. We also have an economics seminar which meets every week and I am serving on two faculty committees, one of which meets every week.

At the last moment, moreover, last Tuesday, I decided to have most of the thesis re-typed because the previous typing had been so faint. It may have been that the chemicals which are used on that ripple-finish paper may have caused the ink to fade on the earlier copy. At any rate, the work of supervising the typing and doing the proof-reading in addition to my regular teaching load led me to postpone everything I could as long as possible. I sent the summary off yesterday by special delivery, however, so that you should have received it by April first.

I should very much appreciate it if you could let me know soon whether or not my thesis appears to be acceptable. I am naturally anxious about it, especially since the last half of it has been written without Professor Carver’s supervision. It has certain merits, I believe, but I am very conscious of its short-comings. It would have been better if I had showed the earlier drafts of it to Professor Carver to secure his criticisms and suggestions; but every time I wrote a chapter I saw so many things I knew myself should be corrected that I disliked to show it to him, or to any one whose good opinion I valued, until I had done it as well as I could with it myself. In fact I still wanted to give it another revision before turning it in.

I trust that you and your sister are well. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that you were working with Professor Carver again. I am looking forward to seeing you and him again this spring, and I may bring my family along with me.

Very truly yours
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Letter to Carver

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

April 8, 1932

Professor Carver:

Professor Taussig read a short article I wrote in criticism of Stuart Chase’s Tragedy of Waste when I first considered the topic of waste as a thesis subject. At that time my ideas concerning my plan of procedure were vague, and Professor Taussig merely approved the general subject of economic waste as one worthy of further development. I did not return for further conferences with him.

Most of my conferences, other than those with yourself, were with Professor Young, whom I used to consult frequently during the last year he was at Harvard. The distinction between the economic and the engineering point of view and the historical approach which I took are largely the result of those conferences.

I had several conferences with Professor R. B. Perry of the philosophy department, and he read and discussed at some length with me the first chapter. Professor Mason also read a few of my earlier essays, and I had a few talks with him concerning the general subject. I have felt, however, that he never approved
either of me or of my ideas. Professor Black has stated the central idea of my thesis — the distinction between the economic and technological points of view — more clearly than any one else with whose work I am familiar, but I never had any conferences with him.

It seems to me that, all things considered, Professor Taussig is the most logical choice in the Economics Department for the examining board. He is very conscientious and honest in his criticisms and evaluations of students, yet I believe he is just and sympathetic towards new ideas.

I feel more keenly than ever at this time the loss of Professor Young, and I realize now that I may have made a mistake in not seeking the advice of Professor Taussig in writing my thesis after Professor Young left us. I always felt very reluctant to show my work to anyone, however, until I had done all I could with it myself. The distinction I have made in the thesis has not been clearly drawn by any other English writer, as far as I could discover, except by Professor Black, and I therefore felt it all the more necessary to state the idea as well as possible before
seeking criticism for it.

I expect to visit Cambridge and to see you and Professor Sorokin next Thursday or Friday. I am rather concerned about my ignorance of European sociology in view of Professor Sorokin’s interest in that field. I have been reading diligently in the history of sociological theory, but it is a very large field to cover, and I am hoping that Professor Sorokin may have some suggestions which will make my efforts more effective.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

V. O Watts: List of Positions

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

May 3, 1932

Dear Miss Prescott:

I have just recalled that you asked me some time ago to send you a list of the positions I have held. If you wanted the list for the pamphlet which was being printed three weeks ago when I was in Cambridge it will be too late to send it now. But in case you may have a further use for it I am giving it herewith. You have my permission, however, to mention any or all of these titles if you wish.

1918-1919. Instructor, Brandon College, Canada
1919-1921. Assist. principal, Gilbert Plains High School, Gilbert Plains Canada.
1922-1923. Thayer Scholar, Harvard University
1924-1926. Instructor in Economics and Sociology, Clark University
1926-1927. Weld Scholar, Harvard University
1917-1929. Tutor in History, Government, and Economics, Harvard University
1929-1930. Lecturer in Economics and Sociology, Wellesley College
1930–. Assoc. Professor of Economics, Antioch College

As you may guess I am very anxious concerning the progress of my thesis through the gauntlet of the readers. I should very much appreciate it if I could obtain a hint of good news from the scene of action, but I suppose that the long list of theses presented this year is delaying the progress of all of them.

Yours sincerely,
[signed]
V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed Special Examination

The committee appointed to conduct the special examination of Mr. V. Orval Watts on Friday, May 27, 1932, voted unanimously to accept the examination. It was agreed by all three examiners that it was a brilliant examination..

Signed: T. N. Carver

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Antioch College informed
that Watts completed his Ph.D.

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

Office of the President

June 6, 1932

Dr. T. N. Carver
Department of Economics,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dear Dr. Carver:

I thank you for your note about Mr. V. O. Watts. It is good to know that he did so well. His interest and enthusiasm in his work with us make his scholarly qualifications all the more productive.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Arthur E. Morgan,
President.

AEM:HG

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ohio State Not Hiring

the ohio state university
George W. Wrightmeyer, President
Columbus

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
M. B. Hammond	Alma Herbst
A. B. Wolfe	R. H. Rowntree
H. G. Hayes	J. D. Blanchard
H. F. Walradt	J. M. Whitsett
Grace S. M. Zorbaugh	H. J. Bittermann
F. E. Held	C. J. Botte
L. Edwin Smart	R. T. Stevens
E. L. Bowers	Louis Levine
R. L. Dewey	Maurice A. Freeman
C. L. James	R. L. Horne
R. D. Patton	Wm. H. Mautz
Louise Stitt	J. H. Sloan
Virgil Willit

June 6, 1932

Professor T. N. Carver
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Professor Carver:

I thank you for calling to my attention Mr. V. O. Watts, now teaching Economics at Antioch College. With your recommendation I do not doubt his ability to satisfy. However, the situation is about the same with us as it is at other western
institutions. We are not likely to make additions to the staff during the coming year. Those who are already employed are fighting hard to hold their jobs and there is a steady pressure on the part of graduate students to secure employment as assistants, readers, or in any other capacity, so that I do not anticipate any chance for Mr. Watts to find employment here. However, I will pass your letter to Dr. Bowers, who is acting chairman of the department, so that he can make use of it if there should be any change in the situation which calls for a new man.

I am, with best wishes,

Cordially yours,
[signed] M. B. Hammond

MBH:KU

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Record of V. O. Watts in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

1921-22	Course	Half-Course
Economics 9a		A
Economics 9b¹		A
Economics 11	B plus
Economics 32²		A
Economics 39²		A
German A	A minus


1922-23	Course	Half-Course
Economics 8	A
Economics 14	A minus
Economics 31	A
History 12	A minus

1923-24	Course	Half-Course
Economics 20

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1929-30. (UA V 453.270), Box 12.

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

1921-22

Economics 9a ¹hf. Economics of Agriculture [primarily for undergraduates]. Professor Carver.

Economics 9b ¹hf. International Trade and Tariff Policies. Professor Taussig.

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professors Taussig and Young.

Economics 32 ²hf. Economics of Agriculture [primarily for graduates]. Professor Carver.

Economics 39 ²hf. International Finance. Asst. Professor Williams.

German A. Elementary Course. Professor Bierwirth et al.

1922-23

Economics 8. Principles of Sociology. Professor Carver.

Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.

Economics 41. Statistical Theory and Analysis. Professors Young and Day.

History 12. The History of England from 1688 to the Present Time. Professor Abbott.

1923-24

Economics 20. Course of Research in Economics.

Image Source: Portrait of Vervon Orval Watts in the Harvard Class Album, 1932.

Tags Carver, Taussig, Watts, Young

Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Exam questions for Social Reform, Socialism, Communism. Carver, 1907-1908

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-10-13

Harvard’s Thomas Nixon Carver, individualist to a fault, played less a devil’s advocate in his courses on social economic reform than he engaged with the theories behind the social movements of his time to disabuse his students’ of the economic schemes of reformers and revolutionaries that attracted them like moths to a flame.

While Bakunin, Marx and George are seen in the Rear-view Mirror of today, they were still objects seen in the side-view mirrors of Carver’s time — objects he probably believed to be closer than they appeared. In any case, objects to avoid for safety’s sake.

__________________________

Previously posted

Pre-Carver:

Exams and enrollment figures for economics of socialism and communism taught by Edward Cummings (1893-1900).

Carver’s courses

1901-02. co-taught with Frederick Alexander Bushée. Economics 14. Socialism and Communism
1902-03. Includes exam with the linked reading list.
1904-05
1905-1906
[1906-1907, on European sabbatical]
1910.Brief bibliography for serious students on the economics of socialism
1919-20, second term. Economics 7^b. Socialism. [Final exam]

Post-Carver:

Edward S. Mason (1929)
Paul Sweezy (1940)
Wassily Leontief (1942-43)
Joseph Schumpeter (1943-44)
Overton Hume Taylor (1955)

________________________

Course Enrollment
1907-08

Economics 14b ²hf. Professor Carver. — Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.

Total 20: 5 Graduates, 7 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

________________________

ECONOMICS 14b
Mid-year Examination, 1907-08

In what particulars does the socialist movement resemble a religious rather than a rationalistic movement?
What are the leading doctrines of “Orthodox Socialism”?
In what particulars are socialism and anarchism alike, and in what particulars are they unlike?
State and comment upon Karl Marx’s theory as to the origin of capital and of interest.
Compare the single tax movement and the socialist movement.
Have you any clearly defined conclusion as to the proper, or logical, limits of state enterprise? If so, explain. If not, state the difficulty in the way of arriving at such a conclusion.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), p. 38.

Images: Mikhail Bakunin, Karl Marx, Henry George from the Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Tags Carver

Distribution Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exam for Distribution of Wealth. Carver, 1907-1908

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-09-22

Thomas Nixon Carver was originally hired by Harvard for his work in economic theory. His course portfolio expanded to cover agricultural economics, sociology, economic reform schemes, and methodology, but his course on distribution probably is the best single reflection of his core economic understanding (beliefs?) regarding economic theory.

________________________

From earlier semesters

1904-05
1905-06

The course content is undoubtedly captured in Carver’s 1904 book The Distribution of Wealth which was reprinted several times during his lifetime.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1907-08

Economics 14a ¹hf. Professor Carver. — The Distribution of Wealth.

Total 19: 5 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

________________________

ECONOMICS 14a
Mid-year Examination, 1907-08

Assuming that the labor of a man and team, with the appropriate tools costs the farmer the equivalent of 5 bushels a day, how many days could he most profitably devote to the cultivation of each of the four fields described in the following table:—

Number of days’ labor of a man and team with the appropriate tools.	Total product, in bushels, of each of four fields under varying applications of labor.
	Field A	Field B	Field C	Field D
5	50	45	40	35
10	150	140	130	125
15	270	255	240	220
20	380	360	300	270
25	450	420	350	310
30	510	470	390	340
35	560	510	420	360
40	600	540	440	375
45	630	560	450	385
50	650	575	455	390

Assuming that the relation of the labor supply to the land supply is such that for four fields like those assumed in the table there are 130 days labor of the kind assumed, what, in bushels, would be the normal rate of wages — i.e., what is the highest rate of wages at which the farmers could find it more to their advantage to employ all the labor than to leave some of it unemployed.
Under the conditions assumed in Problem 2, how much, approximately, would the total product of the community be reduced if field A were withdrawn from cultivation.
Exactly what do you understand by capital and how does it come into existence.
How, if at all, is the supply of capital related to the rate of wages? What authors have you read upon this point and how does your opinion compare with theirs?
What do you understand by the standard of living, and how does it affect wages?
How is the productivity of an instrument of production determined? How is its value determined? How and where, in the process of valuation, does interest arise?
What is the risk theory of profits? What writers, among those whom you have read, hold to this theory, and how do their views compare?
What classes of incomes do you regard as earned, and what as unearned? Justify your position.
What are the leading theories, so far as you have studied, as to how wealth ought to be distributed? Which do you prefer? Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1907-08.

Image Source: Portrait of Thomas Nixon Carver from the Harvard Class Album 1913. Colorized and enhanced by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Tags Carver

Exam Questions Harvard Methodology

Harvard. Semester Exams for Methods of Economic Investigation. Carver, 1907-1908

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-09-14

The following exam questions on Methods of Economic Investigation were for a course listed as primarily for graduate students, taught by Thomas Nixon Carver at Harvard, 1907-08. It is hard for me to imagine there was any period in the last 120 or so years when anyone might have been impressed by this shallow dive into questions of methodology. Am I missing something?

________________________

Some biographical details
for Thomas N. Carver

https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-course-readings-final-exams-and-enrollment-for-principles-of-sociology-carver-and-field-1904-1905/

____________________________

Exams from earlier years

1900-01
1901-02
1903-04
1904-05

____________________________

Course Enrollment
1907-08

Economics 13 hf. Professor Carver. — Methods of Economic Investigation

Total 3: 2 Graduates, 1 Divinity.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

____________________________

ECONOMICS 13
Mid-year examination, 1907-08

How can the method of difference be applied to the determination of the shares in the distribution of wealth.
What do you understand by the analytical method in economics? Give examples.
Is the mathematical and diagrammatic method capable of being used in investigation, or it is only a method of exposition? Give reasons for your answer.
Is there a noticeable tendency among certain writers to treat economics as though it were the science of surplus wealth, and among others to treat it as a science of human well-being? What is the real difference between the two points of view.
How would you subdivide economics into departments; (a) if you were going to write a text-book; (b) if you were going to organize a department of economics in a university where you could have a teaching staff, say, of 8 specialists, and could get men who would fit into whatever special fields you might plan for them?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1907-08.

ECONOMICS 13
Year-end examination, 1907-08

To what extent is the question of method determined by the kind of information which the investigator is seeking? Illustrate.
Is the question of method ever confused with the question of the source from which information must be gathered? Illustrate.
Is the mathematical method a method of investigation or of exposition? Explain and illustrate.
What quantitative concepts are, or should be, used when we speak of a quantity of land, of oats, of capital, of labor, of money?
Describe and criticise three methods of ascertaining to what extent immigration, since 1820, has increased the population of the United States.
Contrast three methods of ascertaining the causes of poverty.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 36-37.

Image Source: Harvard football poster (1907) by F. Earl Christy. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Tags Carver

Exam Questions Harvard Sociology

Harvard. Exam questions for principles of sociology. Carver, 1907-1908

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-07-20

Thomas Nixon Carver was back at the lectern in 1907-08 following his European sabbatical year. His teaching portfolio was pretty broad and it included the field of sociology which had not yet escaped the gravitational pull of the economics department.

One presumes the course text was Thomas Nixon Carver’s book of course readings (over 800 pages!): Sociology and Social Progress: A Handbook for Students of Sociology. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1905.

__________________________

Sociology exams from earlier years.

1901-02 (taught by T. N. Carver)

1902-03 (taught by T. N. Carver and W. Z. Ripley)

1903-04 (taught by T. N. Carver)

1904-05 (taught by T. N. Carver and J. A. Field)

1905-06 (taught by T. N. Carver)

1906-07 (taught by J. A. Field)

__________________________

Course Enrollment
1907-08

Economics 3. Professor Carver. — Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress.

Total 49: 8 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 10 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 66.

__________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3
Mid-year Examination, 1907-08

Discuss the relation of sociology to economics.
Describe the development of ancestor worship according to Spencer, and show the influence of a system of ancestor worship upon political organization.
What does Spencer mean by “industrialism”?
Can education effect any progressive improvement in the innate physical and mental capacities of a race?
Explain the term “eugenics,” and discuss the obstacles to the practical application of eugenic principles.
How does Kidd define religion? What is the function of religion thus defined?
Explain and criticise Stuckenberg’s theory of “Sociation.”
In what sense can interests be said to be harmonious, and in what sense are they antagonistic?
What is meant by “consciousness of kind,” and how is it related to sympathy?
Discuss the question, Is work a blessing?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1907-08.

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ECONOMICS 3
Year-end Examination, 1907-08

Comment upon the following passage: “Every great historical epoch and every variety of social organization must be explained on the basis of factors and forces now at work, and which the student may study at first hand.”
Can you, consistently with modern evolutionary philosophy, define social progress in terms of well-being? Explain.
Comment upon the following passage:—
“So that as law differentiates from personal commands, and as morality differentiates from religious in junctions, so politeness differentiates from ceremonial observance. To which I may add, so does rational usage differentiate from fashion.”
Comment upon the following passage: “The fundamental fact in history is the law of decreasing returns.”
Compare Gidding’s conception of the “ultimate social fact” with that of Adam Smith.
Describe some of the agencies for the storing of social energy.
What is meant by “animated moderation” and how is it developed.
Compare the mediaeval prince and the modern political boss.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1908), p. 29.

Image Source: Thomas Nixon Carver. The World’s Work. Vol. XXVI (May-October 1913) p. 127. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Tags Carver

Exam Questions Harvard Sociology

Harvard. Enrollment and exam questions for principles of sociology. J.A. Field, 1906-1907

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-02-26

Thomas Nixon Carver was on a European sabbatical with his wife and three children during the academic year 1906-07 so substitutes were needed to cover his courses on sociology, agriculture and income distribution. The graduate student James A. Field took over the principles of sociology course in Carver’s absence.

Note: Materials from some courses have already been transcribed and posted. Whenever that is the case, I’ll just add a link to the relevant post. Falling between Economics 1 and Economics 3 was Frank W. Taussig’s course, Economics 2 (“Principles of Economics–Second Course”). It was the “advanced” economic theory course in the curriculum.

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Previous Posts about James A. Field

Chicago. Decennial Harvard Class Report of associate professor of political economy James A. Field, ABD, 1913.

Harvard. Economics Graduate School Records of James Alfred Field, ABD. 1903-1911.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 3. Mr. J.A. Field. — Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress.

Total 44: 4 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 11 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 70.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

[Elective reading(s)]
1. Name the author and the title of the book which you chose for elective reading (or of each of the books, if your reading involved more than one).
2. Indicate and briefly describe that which seems to you the central thought or the most interesting thought in the book (or in each of the books) thus read.
3. Criticise the book (or one of the books) with regard to both merits and defects, giving special attention to the part you have described in your answer to question (b) above.

II
Omit one question of this group.

What do you consider to be the true conception of social progress?
To what extent does social progress in this sense promote the welfare of individuals?
What is an acquired character?
Assuming that acquired characters are not inherited, in what ways is that fact advantageous for society?
Does this assumed non-inheritance of acquired characters become more advantageous or less advantageous as civilization advances?
Describe the three stages traced by Comte in the progress of human society.
Is Comte’s scheme in harmony with Kidd’s belief regarding the conditions of progress?
What is meant by social heredity?
Show the relation between social heredity and the theories of Baldwin, Fiske, and Tarde which have been considered in this course.

III
Omit one question of this group.

What is Buckle’s conclusion as to the relative importance or moral and the intellectual factors of progress, and on what reasons is his conclusion based?
Do you accept his conclusion and his reasoning as correct?
How may self-interest act as a socializing influence?
In what sense can a social mind be said to exist?
How is it related to the individual minds of the members of society?
What is religion, according to Kidd?
How much has it in common with “the struggle for the life others”? How much has it in common with Idealization?
Would Kidd agree that the function of all religions is to reconcile us to the inevitable?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 3

Year-end Examination, 1906-07

[Omit one question.]

Briefly explain:
1. Exogamy.
2. Anthropomorphism.
3. Refraction of Imitation.
4. Vicarious Leisure.
5. General Social Sanction.
What are the functions which are organized in the institution of the family?
Describe the Religious-Proprietary Family.
Criticise Spencer’s antithesis of the militant and industrial types of society and compare it with Robinson’s theory of the relation between war and economics.
What is the Standard of Living?
For what reasons, and under what conditions, is a high standard of living desirable?
Compare economic competition with the biological struggle for existence.
What are the relations of cause and effect which connect competition, specialization and capitalism?
Explain and criticise Veblen’s theory of the Instinct of Workmanship.
Discuss the relation of women to the competitive process, to conservatism and reform, to religion and to the institution of the leisure class.
How do you explain the psychic differences between men and women which this discussion suggests? To what extent do you regard these differences as merely the result of social conventions?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 27-28.

Image Source: Original black-and-white image from the Special Diplomatic Passport Application by James Alfred Field (January 1918). Cropped and colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. (Note: left third of the image is slightly distorted because of a transparent plastic strip used to hold pages in the imaging process)

Tags Carver, FieldJA, Taussig

Agricultural Economics Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exam questions for agricultural economics. Carver, 1905-1906

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-02-09

In 1911 Harvard economics professor Thomas Nixon Carver published a textbook Principles of Rural Economics that undoubtedly encompassed the content of his course on agricutural economics first taught in 1903-04. Somewhat unusually the book is prefaced with an eight page bibliography. The eight question final exam for this semester course from 1905-06 is found below.

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From a previous year

ca. 1904 Problem set

1903-04 Final exam

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Course Enrollment
1905-06

Economics 23 ²hf. Professor Carver. — Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American Conditions.

Total 42: 4 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 11 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 73.

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ECONOMICS 23
Year-end Examination, 1905-06

Describe the two principal stages in the development of commercial agriculture.
Describe the methods by which a citizen could acquire a title to government land at the following dates: 1850, 1870, 1890.
What are the chief advantages of large-scale farming and of small-scale farming? Which system has the United States government favored, and by what means?
What are the advantages of diversified farming, and under what conditions is it practicable?
What experiments are being carried on under the direction of the United States Department of Agriculture in the breeding of animals?
Describe three types of farm management as practiced in the United States.
Name, in the order of their value, the five leading crops of the United States, and if any of them are grown in special regions or belts, state approximately their limits.
What are the principal factors tending, at the present time, to affect the character of the rural population of the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), p. 46.

Image Source: “The American farmer – where he has to sell, and where he has to buy,” print by Louis Dalrymple in Puck, v. 35, no. 910 (August 15, 1894). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Print shows Uncle Sam as an American farmer trying to sell his products labeled “Pork, Wheat, Butter, Beef, Oats”, and corn overseas where there is stiff “Open Competition” at the “Market of the World” represented by John Bull labeled “England” and “Germany, Russia, South America, [and] Australia”. In a vignette, Uncle Sam is shown at “The McKinley Home Market and High Prices” looking at the merchandise for sale, where all the items that he needs have been “Marked Up” 35% to 45%; McKinley offers him a new coat that has been “Marked Up 35%”.

Tags Carver

Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Exam questions for Social Reform, Socialism, Communism. Carver, 1905-1906

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-01-30

Courses on utopias, schemes of social reform, shades of socialism and communism were offered by the Harvard economics department from its early years through the twentieth century. Thomas Nixon Carver taught such a course for several decades as an exercise of know-thy-enemies. His autobiographical Recollections of an Unplanned Life (1949) makes it clear that there was not a collectivist bone in his body.

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