- Dec 2017
-
engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
-
Districts of such extent as that every parent should be within a days journey of his son at school, would be desirable in cases of sickness, and convenient for supplying their Ordinary wants and might be made to lessen sensibly the expense of this part of their education.
I find this section to of the Rockfish Gap report to be ironic and interesting. It is strange that Jefferson and his colleagues found it important that the students should be from within a days journey of the University. Obviously, the majority of the students at the University today are still within the borders of Virginia, however there is a very large portion of students who are from out of the state and even out of the country. In fact, 5.3% of the student body is from outside of the United States and 25% are from outside of Virginia (http://as.virginia.edu/enrollment-data). Additionally, a days journey in the time of Jefferson was very different from what it is contemporarily. The advancement of transportation technology has widened the scopes of the University tremendously. Whether Jefferson envisioned this or not, I believe that he would be pleased with the progress the University has made.
-
- Nov 2017
-
engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
-
Medicine, when fully taught, is usually subdivided into several professorships, but this cannot well be without the accessory of an hospital, where the student can have the benefit of attending clinical lectures & of assisting at operations of surgery.
This sentence is significant and highlights the fact that having a teaching hospital was important the rockfish committee. It is interesting to see that UVA now has the most advanced medical center in all of Virginia and one of the most advanced hospitals in the entire country. Another thing that I found noteworthy about this comment was the progression that the medical field has made since the time of Jefferson and his colleagues. It is almost ironic think how primitive their understanding of medicine was at the time and how much the field has advanced since then.
-
- Sep 2017
-
engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
-
we have proposed no professor of Divinity;
This segment of the report is an affirmation of the rejection of a national religion in the constitution. The University is choosing to not have an official religion and placing the issue of religion in the department of ethics. This is representative of Jefferson's views on the relationship between religion and the state. Although religion is discussed in the declaration of independence, Jefferson did not want to include it.
This represents a shift towards a more rationalist style of education by placing the authority of education in the hands of humans instead of God. Instead of being based on faith and belief, education would focus more on logic and facts.
-