The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989 Page: 64
682 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historzcal Quarterly
See this photograph? It was made when Professor Tom Clark of the
University of Kentucky was here to tape his lectures for The History of
American Civilization-By Its Interpreters series. It was snapped on the set
during production. Dr. Webb's makeup had just been applied-lots of
powder on top of his head to keep his bald pate from shining under the
bright lights. I can almost hear him laugh when I look at it. The wit was
sharp, the barbs were plentiful, and it was fun and it was exciting.
You'll find him a good listener, interested in everything and every-
one unless you happen to be dull, or square, or petty-with all of these
he'll have no patience. If he is in the mood to talk (never mind the
schedule, it's his mood that counts), he'll tell you what he considers to
be the best idea of his lifetime, and his familiar word "exciting" will get
into his outline of his videotape project, History of American Civiliza-
tion-By Its Interpreters. He will tell you that the concept of its produc-
tion is so simple that only a really great mind could have conceived it. It
involves simply bringing the greatest living authorities in the field of
American civilization to the campus of the University of Texas, where
they sit down in the television studios here and discuss their own re-
search and writing (in half-hour segments so they can be tied into regu-
lar class instruction) and leave for all generations of students to come
the one-to-one experience of watching such "greats" as Arnold Toynbee
outlining his original theories, or Ralph Bunche, in his quiet, soft-
spoken way, projecting his hopes for the United Nations and a world of
peace, or Henry Commager, giving the production people fits because
of his sprawling on and off the desk on the set, lost in his subject, obliv-
ious to the fact that a professor of such wide reputation might well have
the dignity to sit in the chair provided.
Dr. Webb wants very much to see this series, now funded as it is by
the Ford Foundation, expand and be made available to universities
everywhere, perhaps as a course for graduate students. He believes
that the idea will be adopted and adapted for television teaching in the
areas of art, architecture, and medicine, and that he will have provided
a whole new breakthrough in the field of upper-level education.
All of the lecturers have been introduced on videotape by Dr. Webb
himself, and he has devoted much thought to those introductions and
to the material that the lecturers will record. (Later, when Dr. Webb
did not return to 102 from an "exciting" drive up into the spring-
sweetened Hill Country, the lecturers were introduced by Dr. Joe B.
Frantz, whom he loved like the son he never had.)
As he tells you about American Civ. you will realize that the sequence
in the scheduling of the lecturers is inspired not only in his beginning
with Arnold Toynbee (whom no scholar is reluctant to follow), but in
the wisdom of his arranging for John Hope Franklin, the learned black
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989, periodical, 1989; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101212/m1/91/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.