For Exotic Journey, Take a Funky Class

For an excursion into the exotic, take a trip through the summer school catalogue.

Though you may have come to Cambridge resigned to spend the summer studying unthrilling subjects like accounting or the British novel, a stray glance or two may tempt you towards a more ecletic offering. After all, some mundane classes are offered year after year, but this may be your only chance to take, say, Engl S-193, "New York and the American Imagination."

New York

Harvard lecturer on History and Literature Paul A. Marx will take a figurative journey to New York and, according to the course catalogue, "examine the works of those artists and writers...who have used the city's physical and social environment as a major means of artistic expression."

If you prefer your trips overseas, two summer school classes may be your ticket abroad. Econ S-1258, "Economic Growth in Modern China: Quantitative Aspects," will take a close look at development in the People's Republic of China. Under the tutelage of Harvard Visiting Professor of Economics Subramanian Swamy, the course will cover income distribution, quality of life and regional disparities.

Movies

Visu S-193, "Workshop: Film and Anthropology," offers a veritable trip around the world and through the human psyche. For a workshop tuition of $785, Emile de Brigard, director of film research, Robert G. Gardner, director of the Peabody Museum film study center and Jean Rouch, visiting audio-visual professor from the University of Paris will teach human behavior as seen through non-fiction films.

"Basically the course is trying to inquire into and see the fit between two different disciplines of observation, anthropology and cinema," says Gardner, whose recent movie "Forests of Bliss" is now showing in New York. In addition to Gardner's film, the class will view such classics as "Man with a Camera" and "Nanook of the North."

Dr. Zeuss

Students can also opt to trace man's development with Psyc S-2290, "Contemporary Adolescence: Theoretical and Clinical Considerations" and Crea S-150, "Children's Literature." The former, taught by Dr. George Goethals, a lecturer on psychology and psychatrist at the Harvard Medical School. He will teach students how to analyze clinical cases. The latter, taught by Harvard lecturer on English Leon Steinmetz, will "explore the world of children's literature, combining theoretical and practical aspects of the genre."

Those who have always dreamt of Lancelot's glorious chivalry can enroll in Engl S-114, "Knights and Ladies: The Changing Vision of Romance." With Harvard Professor of Celtic Languages and Literature John T. Koch at the helm of the round table, students will discuss medieval romance.

Joking Jews

For another wacky history-related course, you can take Comp S-168, "Jewish Social Satire: Mirror and Model," which will study "social satire as a means by which Jews have recalled and shaped their past." According to the course catalogue, Harvard Senior Preceptor in Hebrew Bernard D. Cooperman will emphasize "the mockery of religious leadership and condemnation of the low status afforded women in traditional Jewish society."

But if all this imaginative travel, both abroad and through time, is leaving you with jet lag, check out Anth S-15, "Introduction to Archaelogical Research in the Field." Students will get hands-on digging experience in Harvard Yard.

"We hope to establish more surely the location of some of the first structures [of Harvard College]," says Peabody Professor of American Archaeology and Ethnology Stephen Williams, who will be teaching the course along with John Stubbs, a teaching fellow in anthropology. Since there are no maps remaining from the time, artifacts can provide provides the only cartographical information.

Williams plans to present a symposium in September at the 350th celebrations on these findings as well as other archeological finds at Harvard.