John Andrew Rice
Encyclopedia
John Andrew Rice, Jr. was the founder and first rector of Black Mountain College
in Asheville, North Carolina
. During his time there, he introduced many unique methods of education which had not been implemented in any other experimental institution, attracting many important artists as contributing lecturers and mentors, including John Cage
, Robert Creeley
, Willem de Kooning
, Robert Rauschenberg
, and Franz Kline
. During World War II, he made it a haven for refugee European artists, including Josef Albers
and Anni Albers
, who arrived from the Bauhaus in Germany. Later, Black Mountain College became the platform for the work of Buckminster Fuller
, who made the college the site of the first geodesic dome
. Because of his strong ideas and unusual educational philosophy, Rice became involved in many debates in the socially conservative 1930's, 40's and 50's, becoming known as a very outspoken critic of many of the widely implemented methods of higher education.
Rice was the son of Methodist minister John Andrew Rice, Sr. and Annabelle Smith, who was from a prominent South Carolina family. He was born in Lynchburg, South Carolina
and attended The Webb School
, a highly regarded boarding school located in Bell Buckle, Tennessee
, where he met the teacher he would revere all his life, John Webb. Rice then attended Tulane University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, then won a Rhodes Scholarship
to Oxford University. After graduating from Oxford he married Nell Aydelotte and began teaching at Webb School, but left after a year to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, which he never completed, securing a faculty position at the University of Nebraska, where he proved himself brilliant in the classroom and in counseling students. His teaching methods were aimed at accelerating the student's emotional and intellectual maturity, rather than encouraging a reliance on a store of subject knowledge.
From the University of Nebraska, Rice took his unique teaching strategies to the New Jersey College for Women. He was forced to resign after two years amid a faculty controversy which was not resolved. He then landed a faculty position at Rollins College
in Winter Park, Florida. At Rollins, he found himself again in a controversial position, as faculty and students found him to be either brilliant and charismatic, or divisive and argumentative. Rice also spoke out against the institutions of fraternities and sororities and objecting to various policies of the president of Rollins, Hamilton Holt
and was asked to resign.
Rice then began planning for the learning community that became Black Mountain College
, and it opened in 1933 with twenty-one students, eventually growing to nearly one hundred. His new ideas included: (1) the centrality of artistic experience to support learning in all disciplines; (2) the value of experiential learning; (3) the practice of democratic shared governance by faculty and students; (4) the value of social and cultural endeavors outside the classroom; and (5) elimination of oversight from outside trustees. He also enjoyed bringing in diverse visitors.
His innovations soon caused the college to be recognized nationally. He resigned in 1940 after his personality polarized the faculty and they requested it. Financial difficulties caused it to close in 1956. Rice's name lives on in the halls of Black Mountain.
After a divorce from his first wife, Rice married Dikka Moen and had two children. He then began another career as a writer, contributing many short stories to such publications as Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post
, Harper's and the New Yorker
. He also published a book of short stories entitled Local Color (1957), and a memoir I Came Out of the Eighteenth Century (1942), which explains his methods and criticizes grades based on memorization, overreliance on Great Books, and classroom attendance.
The current Director of the Division of Education Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities
is his grandson William Craig Rice
.
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College, a school founded in 1933 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, was a new kind of college in the United States in which the study of art was seen to be central to a liberal arts education, and in which John Dewey's principles of education played a major role...
in Asheville, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. During his time there, he introduced many unique methods of education which had not been implemented in any other experimental institution, attracting many important artists as contributing lecturers and mentors, including John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
, Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
, and Franz Kline
Franz Kline
Franz Jozef Kline was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement centered around New York in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended Girard College, an academy in Philadelphia for fatherless boys...
. During World War II, he made it a haven for refugee European artists, including Josef Albers
Josef Albers
Josef Albers was a German-born American artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the 20th century....
and Anni Albers
Anni Albers
Annelise Albers was a German-American textile artist and printmaker. She is perhaps the best known textile artist of the 20th century.-Life:...
, who arrived from the Bauhaus in Germany. Later, Black Mountain College became the platform for the work of Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
, who made the college the site of the first geodesic dome
Geodesic dome
A geodesic dome is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure. When...
. Because of his strong ideas and unusual educational philosophy, Rice became involved in many debates in the socially conservative 1930's, 40's and 50's, becoming known as a very outspoken critic of many of the widely implemented methods of higher education.
Rice was the son of Methodist minister John Andrew Rice, Sr. and Annabelle Smith, who was from a prominent South Carolina family. He was born in Lynchburg, South Carolina
Lynchburg, South Carolina
Lynchburg is a town in Lee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 588 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lynchburg is located at ....
and attended The Webb School
Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee)
The Webb School is a private coeducational college preparatory boarding and day school in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, founded in 1870. It has been called the oldest, continuously operating boarding school in the South...
, a highly regarded boarding school located in Bell Buckle, Tennessee
Bell Buckle, Tennessee
Bell Buckle is a town in Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 500 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bell Buckle is located at ....
, where he met the teacher he would revere all his life, John Webb. Rice then attended Tulane University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, then won a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
to Oxford University. After graduating from Oxford he married Nell Aydelotte and began teaching at Webb School, but left after a year to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, which he never completed, securing a faculty position at the University of Nebraska, where he proved himself brilliant in the classroom and in counseling students. His teaching methods were aimed at accelerating the student's emotional and intellectual maturity, rather than encouraging a reliance on a store of subject knowledge.
From the University of Nebraska, Rice took his unique teaching strategies to the New Jersey College for Women. He was forced to resign after two years amid a faculty controversy which was not resolved. He then landed a faculty position at Rollins College
Rollins College
Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Winter Park, Florida , along the shores of Lake Virginia....
in Winter Park, Florida. At Rollins, he found himself again in a controversial position, as faculty and students found him to be either brilliant and charismatic, or divisive and argumentative. Rice also spoke out against the institutions of fraternities and sororities and objecting to various policies of the president of Rollins, Hamilton Holt
Hamilton Holt
Hamilton Holt was an American educator, editor, author and politician.-Editor:...
and was asked to resign.
Rice then began planning for the learning community that became Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College, a school founded in 1933 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, was a new kind of college in the United States in which the study of art was seen to be central to a liberal arts education, and in which John Dewey's principles of education played a major role...
, and it opened in 1933 with twenty-one students, eventually growing to nearly one hundred. His new ideas included: (1) the centrality of artistic experience to support learning in all disciplines; (2) the value of experiential learning; (3) the practice of democratic shared governance by faculty and students; (4) the value of social and cultural endeavors outside the classroom; and (5) elimination of oversight from outside trustees. He also enjoyed bringing in diverse visitors.
His innovations soon caused the college to be recognized nationally. He resigned in 1940 after his personality polarized the faculty and they requested it. Financial difficulties caused it to close in 1956. Rice's name lives on in the halls of Black Mountain.
After a divorce from his first wife, Rice married Dikka Moen and had two children. He then began another career as a writer, contributing many short stories to such publications as Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, Harper's and the New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. He also published a book of short stories entitled Local Color (1957), and a memoir I Came Out of the Eighteenth Century (1942), which explains his methods and criticizes grades based on memorization, overreliance on Great Books, and classroom attendance.
The current Director of the Division of Education Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
is his grandson William Craig Rice
William Craig Rice
William Craig Rice is an American educator. He is currently the Director of the Division of Education Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities....
.