Independent Study

Recent administrative changes make it easier to get course reduction than ever before. One obstacle, however, still prevents successful operation of the program. Many students, whose projects fulfill the best ideals of independent studies, are thwarted by the requirement of departmental consent.

Most departments are reluctant to permit independent study within their fields, and virtually none have encouraged the student to seek new problems outside his area of concentration. Yet the original purpose of the course reduction program was to give the student a chance to pursue a subject of genuine interest, regardless of its relation to his field.

Indeed, many of those responsible for the program feel that its best use is not merely to supplement work on a thesis or preparation for generals, but to foster projects which are intellectual ends in themselves. It is a fond hope that the English concentrator may become interested in the art of printing and study illuminated manuscripts, or that the Chemistry major steep himself in Civil War lore. Such "non-functional" ventures, springing from personal curiosity, offer the gratification of solitary scholarship, the satisfaction of a discipline stemming from self and subject alone.

Many departments claim that tutorial for credit provides an opportunity for independent study. With the stiffening of degree requirements, however, a student is unlikely to use his tutorial in an unconventional fashion. Tutorial offers no escape to a special subject outside one's field, and seldom to a subject not covered by a formal course.

As long as departments make reduction even for study within the field difficult, there is little hope of achieving the highest aims of the program. Moreover, there is no logic in departmental jurisdiction as it exists today. If a student fulfills the degree requirements within his own field, the department cannot forbid his taking any other subject offered by the College. Only in that his study card must be signed by his tutor should a student's electives be subject to departmental discretion. In this sense course reduction should be regarded as any elective.

Obviously, course reduction opportunities may be abused by the lazy. However, it should be the business of the Administrative Board, or its representative, to insure that individual projects are challenging substitutes for regular courses. An unreasonable prerogative now prevents many interesting projects from even reaching the Board's attention, and turns enthusiasm into catalogue-searching diletantism.