David Hume in Chicago: A Twentieth-Century Hoax

This article alleges that two letters attributed to the philosopher David Hume (1711–1776) were forged in the twentieth century. The letters were first published in 1972 and 1973 by Michael Morrisroe, an assistant professor of English in the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle, after which they became monuments of conventional scholarship on Hume's life and writings. Both letters are cited without qualification by scholars of Hume's thought in dozens of publications, including Ernest Campbell Mossner's celebrated Life of David Hume (1980), and John Robertson's entry for Hume in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). This article reconstructs the history and transmission of Hume's extant letters and attempts to account for why the forgeries published by Morrisroe were accepted as genuine. It makes a systematic case against the authenticity of the letters, and focuses in particular on the question of whether Hume met the Jansenist homme de lettres Noël-Antoine Pluche (1688–1761) and had access to his library, in Reims, in 1734. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the exposé for modern editorial scholarship and intellectual history.

Computerized Academic Monitoring System: A Support System for Improving Minority Student Persistence in Select Problem Courses

In order to improve student retention in an Educational Assistance Program (EAP), a Computerized Academic Monitoring System (CAMS) was designed and implemented. This paper describes the various components of CAMS and how it was implemented at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. Design features include incorporation of recent research on student retention and adaptability to other institutions.

Library Computer System (LCS) and the Law Library: An Experience at the University of Illinois

The main campus of the University of Illinois, commonly known as the UI-UC campus, is located at the twin cities of Urbana-Champaign, about 135 miles south of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. The campuses of Chicago Circle and the Medical Center, both located in Chicago, are other components of the University of Illinois system. Many departments and colleges of the UI-UC campus, especially in the fields of science and technology, have outstanding reputations for research achievement. The University Library ranks first in size among state universities and third among all universities in the United States. Its total collection reaches approximately 5.5 million volumes.