Group of Students In History 163 Criticize Professor

A group of students in History 163, "A History of American Social Structure," yesterday criticized the course instructor Robert H. Wiebe, visiting professor of History, for not paying as much attention to working-class and economic history as they would like.

"Our feeling is that it's the best course in the History Department, which isn't necessarily saying a lot," Robert M. Day '73, one of the students, said yesterday. "But we'd like it to be a lot more concrete and valid and relevant to what we're trying to do."

Wiebe said yesterday that because he had only read half of the group's leaflet, "Class(room) Consciousness, #1," he didn't want to comment on its content. He said he would read the remainder of the leaflet before the class's next meeting Wednesday.

The leaflet said that "Wiebe talks largely about people's perceptions" without concentrating on the material conditions that "make people have one perception rather than another."

"We all pretty much agree that Wiebe's giving some good ideas and doing some important work, but we feel we need to look more at real struggles, to use history as a real means of struggling against oppression," Day said.

Several of the critical students are members of the New American Movement. Day said they plan to meet with other interested students Monday night to "talk about some of the lectures, what Wiebe is saying, things we'd like to read and so on."