(Inter)disciplinary roots: A study of influence and collaboration in the work of Fred Newton Scott (John Dewey, Joseph Villiers Denney)

• Main Author: Davis, Ivan
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: education, history of; language, rhetoric and composition
• ISBN: 0493558195; 9780493558196

Building on Donald and Patricia Stewarts' The Life and Legacy of Fred Newton Scott (1997), this dissertation addresses aspects of Scott's life which have been ignored or left underdeveloped in the work of composition historians, including Scott's early education at the Indiana State Normal School and at Battle Creek College, along with his personal, academic and professional relationships with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, John Dewey, and Joseph Villiers Denney. This examination, providing a more precise knowledge of Scott's academic and professional life, clarifies the significance and originality of Scott's contributions to the discipline.
At the Indiana State Normal School, Scott was exposed to an innovative adaptation of Pestalozzian and Herbartian educational philosophies. The philosophy and methodologies employed at the school likely influenced Scott's thinking about teacher training, while encouraging his adaptation of psychology in the teaching of English.
Scott again was exposed to a reform-minded educational agenda at Battle Creek College. There, Scott encountered an holistic educational program that sought to improve the intellectual, physical, and spiritual components of students' lives.
Through his long friendship with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, Scott gained an intimate knowledge of the medical profession, an awareness Scott utilized in his own writing about understanding student errors in composition.
Scott's academic and professional relationship with John Dewey at the University of Michigan demonstrates their multiple shared interests and activities. The Thought News newspaper project illustrates their attempt to implement philosophy into practical arenas. Their working relationship, as well as Scott's educational background at the Indiana State Normal School and at Battle Creek College, suggests that Dewey has been erroneously viewed as the source of Scott's innovative approach to composition.
Finally, Scott's collaborative relationship with Joseph Villiers Denney, the writer with whom Scott wrote his most popular textbooks, illustrates the importance Scott placed on collaboration as well as the competence of those with whom he collaborated. Denney's own scholarly work in composition demonstrates his originality and resourcefulness as an equal partner in their collaborations.