Gov 1 Course May Become New Soc Sci

Government 1 may become a General Education social sciences course next year, Carl J. Friedrich, Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, said yesterday.

Friedrich also announced that he would teach Gov 1b next year, replacing William Y. Elliott, Leroy B. Williams Professor of History, who is retiring. Robert G. McCloskey and other members of the Department will teach the fall term of Gov 1. Both McCloskey and Friedrich lectured in the course last fall.

Changes in the requirements of the general education program have increased the possibility that Gov 1 might be made a social sciences course. Formerly, a Gen Ed course could not be counted for credit in a department. Natural Sciences 5, however, now may be taken for credit in biology. Gov 1 could therefore remain a requirement for government majors while becoming a part of the Gen Ed program.

There will be a change of approach in Gov 1b next year, Friedrich said. Presently, the course deals with political theory from an historical approach; Friedrich will place more emphasis on an understanding of the idealized concepts of political theory, such as "liberty" or "authority," and less on studies of philosophers' writings. The course will examine only major political philosophers rather than the many theorists who are now studied.

This change will make Gov 1b "less an abbreviated introduction to Government 106 and more a course in its own right," Friedrich said. By requiring a student to consider the ideal concepts, "we may force him to think, which is what we are trying to do at Harvard."

Friedrich also said that the Department may offer freshman seminars in political theory next year. A typical seminar would examine the thought of a key philosopher such as Rousseau. Friedrich may give one of the seminars.