Language of Business

To Sanjay G. Kallapur, accounting is the Rodney Danger-field of the business world--it gets no respect.

But Kallapur, a fifth-year doctoral candidate at the Business School, is out to make a name for the field. This semester, he will teach Economics 1612. "Financial Accounting," in an attempt to find accounting a home in the undergraduate economics concentration.

"Accounting research is a lot different from what people tend to think it is--it's not number-crunching at all," says Kallapur, adding that the field helps bridge the gap between economic theory and its practical applications.

"Accountancy is the language of business, and the course is here to make students literate in reading financial statements," says Kallapur. "It's like linguistics. When linguists translate from one language to another, they understand the first one better."

A graduate of the University of Bombay's business school, Kallapur is one of only a handful of instructors to lead a Harvard economics course before earning a doctoral degree.

"It's an uncommon arrangement," says Economics Department chair John F. Kain, "but it's not completely new. It's only done when someone is unusually qualified."

Kallapur received a masters in business administration at the University of Bombay. But he says he aspired to the classroom, not the boardroom. So he left India to pursue a

A new face at Harvard this year is Civil Rightsleader and Student Nonviolent CoordinatingCommittee founderJulian Bond. Bond will teach twoAfro-American Studies courses about Southern Blackpolitics and the rise of the Civil Rightsmovement.

And Professor of History Akira Iriye, a recentrecruit from the University of Chicago, will teamup with Professor of History Charles A. Maier andWarren Professor of History Ernest R. May for awide-ranging class on world history over the pastcentury.

Revamped Requirements

Perhaps the most sweeping changes are newrequirements for two of the largestconcentrations--history and economics.

Sophomores entering history must now takeHistory 1, "Western Societies, Politics, andCultures," According to Maier, the course is thebrainchild of a group of history professors whowanted to develop a comprehensive introduction tothe discipline. Calling previous western historysurveys at Harvard "the casualties of thelate-60s" the new survey course includes readingfrom a standard text, as well as contemporarycultural and theoretical texts.

Meanwhile, organizers of the largestintroductory course--Social Analysis 10--areinstituting a "number of dramatic changes" tobetter meet student needs, says AssistantProfessor of Economics Douglas W. Elmendorf. Hesays the course will incorporate four newtopics--the environment, economics of health care,poverty and protectionism.

The macroeconomics portion of the class in thespring will include less math and more currentevents topics.

Best of all, Elmendorf says Ec 10 will ease itsgrading policy to make it more in line with otherCores.

Course Politics

And finally, the "Politically Correct CourseOffering Award for 1989" goes to Mellon Professorof the Humanities Barbara Johnson. Although onleave this year, Johnson renamed her Literatureand Arts A-50 class--formerly "Black WomenWriters"--to "African American Women Writers." Theupdated course will come back in vogue in time forthe 1990-91 school year."When Father Was away on Business": aYugoslavian film to be shown in Vladimir K.Petric's fall course on East European cinema.

A new face at Harvard this year is Civil Rightsleader and Student Nonviolent CoordinatingCommittee founderJulian Bond. Bond will teach twoAfro-American Studies courses about Southern Blackpolitics and the rise of the Civil Rightsmovement.

And Professor of History Akira Iriye, a recentrecruit from the University of Chicago, will teamup with Professor of History Charles A. Maier andWarren Professor of History Ernest R. May for awide-ranging class on world history over the pastcentury.

Revamped Requirements

Perhaps the most sweeping changes are newrequirements for two of the largestconcentrations--history and economics.

Sophomores entering history must now takeHistory 1, "Western Societies, Politics, andCultures," According to Maier, the course is thebrainchild of a group of history professors whowanted to develop a comprehensive introduction tothe discipline. Calling previous western historysurveys at Harvard "the casualties of thelate-60s" the new survey course includes readingfrom a standard text, as well as contemporarycultural and theoretical texts.

Meanwhile, organizers of the largestintroductory course--Social Analysis 10--areinstituting a "number of dramatic changes" tobetter meet student needs, says AssistantProfessor of Economics Douglas W. Elmendorf. Hesays the course will incorporate four newtopics--the environment, economics of health care,poverty and protectionism.

The macroeconomics portion of the class in thespring will include less math and more currentevents topics.

Best of all, Elmendorf says Ec 10 will ease itsgrading policy to make it more in line with otherCores.

Course Politics

And finally, the "Politically Correct CourseOffering Award for 1989" goes to Mellon Professorof the Humanities Barbara Johnson. Although onleave this year, Johnson renamed her Literatureand Arts A-50 class--formerly "Black WomenWriters"--to "African American Women Writers." Theupdated course will come back in vogue in time forthe 1990-91 school year."When Father Was away on Business": aYugoslavian film to be shown in Vladimir K.Petric's fall course on East European cinema.