The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1621: Chapter 31: The Whig Interpretation of History (2)

Arthur replied with a smile: ”Don’t be nervous, just kidding. Of course, I understand Mr. Masden’s character. If he had the slightest bit of selfishness, he wouldn’t have sold his house just to open this free hospital for poor people who can’t afford medical treatment. You won’t find a doctor in the entire London with a kinder heart than him.”

After speaking, Arthur stood up and said: ”When I was at the academic affairs meeting earlier, Mr. Masden mentioned you, saying that you have published two papers on cholera in The Lancet. According to the university’s doctoral degree awarding standards, you actually qualify. If you are planning to pursue a PhD, there’s really no need to continue attending classes at the school. Once you obtain your bachelor’s degree, you can directly apply for a doctoral degree, as long as you can present a convincing performance during your doctoral dissertation defense. Personally, I support bypassing those cumbersome teaching procedures.”

If someone else said this, it would most likely be considered an empty promise without much weight.

However, as the dean of academic affairs at the University of London, Arthur dared to say this to Snow, because he was naturally confident he could make it happen.

Moreover, given that Snow has the capability to publish multiple papers in The Lancet during his second year, Arthur felt that the other members of the academic committee would also find it hard to justify not giving Snow a special pass.

If other students are dissatisfied, that’s okay. As long as they can have the same accomplishments as Snow, the new teaching regulations that Dean Hastings is about to announce could grant them the same rights.

According to the subject area, two papers in The Lancet, two in Royal Society Philosophical Transactions, or two in Nature can all directly lead to a PhD degree.

Of course, even so, it’s still impossible to rule out some people feeling that it’s unfair.

Because, setting aside The Lancet and Royal Society Philosophical Transactions, two papers in Nature would be enough for two elections to the Royal Society, making the University of London’s PhD degree seem suspiciously high in value.

Additionally, students in the history and classical literature programs might complain about the school’s unfair treatment because they do not have equivalent direct-entry doctoral standards.

Initially, Arthur did consider these two colleges since, in terms of the school’s history and honor, these two colleges are the most outstanding at the University of London. The History College gave birth to the school’s first knighted figure, Sir Arthur Hastings, and the Classical Literature College boasts of top figures in British literature like Eld Carter and Alfred Tennyson.

But...

Arthur always felt that if publishing in British and Spark were used as the measurement standard, the bias was too obvious, making it easy for people to accuse him of using public resources for private gains. So, after thinking it over, the juniors would have to suffer a bit of injustice.

Moreover, Arthur did not believe that studying history and classical literature prevented one from publishing in Nature and Royal Society Philosophical Transactions, as natural philosophy ultimately falls under the domain of philosophy.

Besides, the history college is not without examples of such publications. For instance, Sir Arthur Hastings has a paper in Nature and another in Royal Society Philosophical Transactions, fully meeting the school’s doctoral standards.

As the saying goes: politics and history are inseparable; history and physics are inseparable; physics and music are inseparable; music and policing are inseparable; policing and diplomacy are inseparable.

Young students, if I can do it, so can you!

After bidding farewell to the encouraged Snow, Arthur planned to head out and catch a cab to rush to the University of London on Gower Street.

Typically, positions like dean of academic affairs do not require strict adherence to work hours, and the university’s official duties are far from overwhelming for someone like Arthur, who is accustomed to handling trivial matters as a senior official.

If there’s any place worth a bit of Arthur’s attention, it’s probably the few courses the university assigned him.

The first course, eagerly requested by the academic committee, was the natural philosophy course On Electricity and Magnetism. The other was the British history course, From Norman Conquest to Hanover Dynasty, which he volunteered for.

Of these two courses, the natural philosophy class was scheduled for Tuesday, while the history class was scheduled for Thursday.

As for which class Arthur preferred teaching?

I can only answer you, today is Thursday.

The University of London’s classroom was filled with the scent of parchment and oak desks. Arthur pressed the chalk against the blackboard, discussing the relationship between the Plantagenet Dynasty and the Great Charter.

”Due to John I’s defeat at the Battle of Bouvines, coupled with continuous years of conflict with France, he violated feudal customs, over-exerting and plundering everywhere. He levied the shield money 11 times in 17 years, invented various harsh taxes such as the movable property tax, business tax, and Church tax. English nobility’s discontent reached its peak at this time.

Back then, King John attempted to force-marry his first wife to the noble Geoffrey de Mandeville for 20,000 marks. According to the King’s decree, if de Mandeville refused, his estate would all revert to the King after his death.

William de Fosse’s mother was demanded 5,000 marks by the king or to accept the designated remarriage candidate. Giles de Breuse’s brother and mother were starved to death, and later John I, under the guise of reinstatement, demanded 9,000 marks.

Robert Ross merely wanted to reclaim his seized lands and castles but was required to pay a tax of 2,000 marks to the King...”