Intellectual History Goes Easy on the Brain

No sections. No papers. No problem.

According to many happily under challenged undergraduates, History 134lb, European Intellectual History, 1900 to the Present, poses little threat for those hoping to avoid rigorous academic work.

"It's obscenely easy," says Manuel S. Varela '94, who took the course during the spring of 1992. "Students really should not receive college credit for it."

The class' professor, Trumbull Professor of American History Donald Fleming, defends the course's rigor because it "exposes students to major thinkers in European History."

"The reading is not easy, you know," Fleming said. "It's Nietsche and Hegel... That is not a snap."

But by not requiring any papers, sections, preparation for lectures or in-class tests, the course does not require extensive thought, many students say.

"I have two other friends who took the course," Varela says. "Both attended zero percent of the lectures and ended up with A-minuses. Not only that, but for the midterm they were supposed to read the play "The Wild Duck' by Henrick Ibsen. They rented the movie instead and both got A's."

The course meets Monday, Wednesday and some Fridays at noon. No sections are offered because, in Fleming's words, "there are not enough qualified people to teach it."

The course's only requirement--aside from a final in which the questions are given out beforehand--is a "take-home quiz."

Those who do poorly on the quiz, however, can have the grade dropped if they receive a better score on the final.

Over its history, the course has proven especially enticing to gut been involved with the Cambridge Kids' Counciland the Cambridge Human Rights Ordinance. Wolf wasalso on the national board of directors for theNational League of Cities.

Charles Royer, director of the IOP, said he waslooking working forward to working with Wolf.

"I got know Alice Wolf through the NationalLeague of Cities, where she was a leader in makingpolicy on the issue of children and families,"Royer said. "We're very fortunate to have her as afellow."

City Councilor Kathleen L. Born said she feelsthat Wolf is addressing an issue important tosociety.

"As a government we should be doing everythingto encourage [support for family in thecommunity]," Born said. "Alice understands that."

Born and fellow Councillor KatherineTriantafillou sponsored a resolutioncongratulating Wolf at last Monday's City Councilmeeting.

"Former Mayor Alice Wolf is missed on theCouncil floor by her fellow Councillors and thepeople of Cambridge," the resolution said. "ThisCity Council...wish[es] her a fruitful tenure inher new position."

Born and Triantafillou are both femaleCambridge Civic Association-backed councillors, asWolf was before them. But Born said that does notmean she is Wolf's replacement.

"I could never fill Alice Wolf's niche," Bornsaid. "She's a real model to people and to womenlike myself.

Charles Royer, director of the IOP, said he waslooking working forward to working with Wolf.

"I got know Alice Wolf through the NationalLeague of Cities, where she was a leader in makingpolicy on the issue of children and families,"Royer said. "We're very fortunate to have her as afellow."

City Councilor Kathleen L. Born said she feelsthat Wolf is addressing an issue important tosociety.

"As a government we should be doing everythingto encourage [support for family in thecommunity]," Born said. "Alice understands that."

Born and fellow Councillor KatherineTriantafillou sponsored a resolutioncongratulating Wolf at last Monday's City Councilmeeting.

"Former Mayor Alice Wolf is missed on theCouncil floor by her fellow Councillors and thepeople of Cambridge," the resolution said. "ThisCity Council...wish[es] her a fruitful tenure inher new position."

Born and Triantafillou are both femaleCambridge Civic Association-backed councillors, asWolf was before them. But Born said that does notmean she is Wolf's replacement.

"I could never fill Alice Wolf's niche," Bornsaid. "She's a real model to people and to womenlike myself.