Confy Guide Additions

Many reports on freshman courses did not reach the CRIMSON in time to be included in the annual edition of A Confidential Guide to Freshman Courses. Below, an don page seven are five courses, not included in this year's regular Confy Guide.

The regular guide is on sale in the Union and at the CRIMSON. In it will be found informatio non all freshman courses, the instructors, work required, contents, and other needed data. While these summaries of courses do not pretend to represent the penultimate wisdom of the sages on each course, they are the opinions of this who took the course last year, and generations of freshmen have found the guide useful, even necessary, in plotting their first year.

Social Sciences 5

CONTENTS: The newest of the Gen Ed courses, Social Sciences 5 studies "change and continuity in European history." It examines history with the tools of the social scientist, the political scientist, the economist, and the sociologist.

LECTURES: Five men lectured alternately to '55, while '56 will see an even half dozen ascend the platform. Nearly everyone who took the course found the lectures, given once a week with two sections, consistently interesting. The lecturers won almost universal praise for their fresh approach, enthusiasm, variety, and general competence. On the other side of the ledger, some felt that the material was delivered too rapidly, that the bulk of the material was too often merely factual. However, all throught that the lectures were very well organized and therefore easy to take notes on. '55 found the background material presented in the lectures, although not absolutely essential, both interesting and helpful. Individually, Baer, Conway, and Graubard were applauded for being consistently "good" to "inspiring"; Malia was "dull and disorganized" during the fall term, with a good deal of improvement in the spring.

SECTION MEN: Conway, head section man of Social Sciences 2 before he began teaching this course, was received with enthusiasm. '55 described him as undogmatic, taking a great deal of interest in the student; all thought that he "knew his stuff." Another section man from Social Sciences 2, Baer, was praised as sympathetic, fair, very competent, interested in his students. A Social Sciences 1 man, Graubard, was an "extremely capable teacher," interested both in the course and in the student, and quite helpful in explaining the more difficult material. Malia was described as competent, though more so in the spring than in the fall term. This year, two new men, Ahlstrom and Wendon, have been added.

READING: The most vital factor in the course is the reading which required an average of 8 hours a week, although individuals varied from 3 to 14. '55 thought the material moderately interesting; all found it to some degree difficult, but very necessary. A criticism that appeared frequently concerned the length and difficulty of the fall reading list; however, the section men cut this down for the spring, and have further revised the list for the new term. Primary source material is emphasized both terms and was most popular with '55. St. Augustine, Voltaire, Rousseau, J. S. Mill, Engels, Nietzsche, and Fromm were widely liked among the contemporary works, while of the texts, Pirenne, Sabine, and Brinton were best received.

PAPERS: Last year, three papers were required each term, selected from a wide variety of topics; for 1952-53, however, only two will be required. Students spent an average of 12-15 hours on them, although here again they varied from 6 to 25. Most of '55 thought the papers worth the time used, since they helped in understanding the course and in crystallizing certain ideas; they also gave a greater unity to Social Sciences 5.

EXAMINATIONS: Only one exam was given each term--a final, but this year, '56 will also have to cope with an hour exam both terms. The exams were considered fair, marked slightly on the hard side; the bulk of the grades, as in the case with most Gen Ed courses, were B's.

COMMENTS: '55 was almost unanimous in its opinion of the course: extremely worthwhile, very satisfying. One student thought it an excellent balance between Social Sciences 1, whose concern with facts it avoided, and Social Sciences 2, whose disjointedness it also escaped. '55 advised that a good section man is essential, since two out of three meetings are in section, but the students generally praised the men they drew. Some warned that a student should be prepared to do a tremendous amount of reading before entering the course. One critic maintained that having five men lecture made the course a bit loose and disconnected. But most had nothing but praise for Social Sciences 5 and recommended it to '56 as one of the most rewarding courses available.

Spanish A

Contents: Here is an elementary course that emphasis reading and the development of grammatical skills. It is taken in preparation for Spanish C, and usually chosen as means for passing the language requirement.

Section Men: Simohes came off as by far the outstanding, receiving almost universal praise for his fine sense of humor, interesting class room style, and genuine interest in the student. One student said, "He made an otherwise dull course worth attending." Leighton fell somewhat short of the mark as an instructor, but since it was his first year in the course students felt that he would improve. He was, however considered generally uninteresting and occasionally "Confused." Other men will no doubt be added to the course this year.

Reading: The most important part of this course is the reading. Last year's class felt that most of it was good and also scaled to their ability, but "La Rana Viajera" was considered too advanced in vocabulary for the first year.

Assignments: For the tyro at Spanish, great amounts of time must be put in to master the vocabulary and grammer, but for one having previous knowledge, the reading is all that is necessary. Last year's class spent a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 9 per week.

Examinations: The opinion seemed split with half agreeing that they were hard and unfair, while the other group contests that they were close to average. The first few exams naturally stressed grammar while the later one were devoted in a large part to prepared and sight translations. The marking was considered almost unanimously fair.

Comments: Spanish A is not a gut for the beginner. The main complaint seems to be that the novice is forced to compete with veterans of two or three years of high school Spanish and therefore placed at a distinct disadvantage at the outset. To atone for the "simplicity" of the language, assignments are rather long and a large vocabulary must be acquired early. Furthermore, because this course is usually taken as a means of passing the language requirement, it tends to attract apathetic students and therefore lacks much of the interest of advanced courses.