Gov. 10 Students Get Extra-Long Weekend

Veterans Day weekend started early for more than 200 students when Assistant Professor of Government Jill Frank dismissed her Government 10 lecture class because most students had not done their reading.

"Everybody was kind of shocked," Thong Q. Le '98 said yesterday. "I'd never seen anything like this before, so it was sort of an anomaly. I was surprised. I didn't think she'd do something that extreme."

Students entered the introductory political philosophy class as usual last Thursday, and Frank began by discussing mid-semester student evaluations.

According to Le, Frank said that students had called for more interaction in class to clarify links between lectures and the reading. Frank said she wanted to offer students more opportunity for in-class discussions, Le said.

Students said they were taken aback when Frank proceeded to implement the change halfway through class.

"First of all, we had just taken a midterm that Tuesday," said Daniel J. Epstein '99, who had not done the reading because he was "exhausted" after the exam. "And she had already assigned an 80-page reading [for Thursday]."

After lecturing about the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Frank stopped midway and suggested that the class discuss his concept of the state of nature.

After what Le called "dead silence," Frank asked how many people actually did the reading.

"About two or three hands went up," Le said.

According to Le, Frank appeared visibly upset. She gathered her materials, removed her microphone and told the class to go home until they were ready. She then walked out of the lecture hall.

"I wanted to do something in the [last] half of the class for which the students appeared unprepared," Frank said in an interview yesterday. "So we're going to pick up [today] where we left off."

She declined to comment further.

Manisha Bharti '98 said the class was bewildered when Frank ended the lecture so abruptly.

"People felt really badly for not having done their reading," she said.

"I felt like she was taking our input [on the survey forms] really seriously," Bharti added. "And she was really excited about trying new stuff and the questions were a sort of first test...She seemed so excited about trying new ideas and she was upset and disappointed because we kind of let her down."

Many students said they understood why Frank walked out.

"I think she had every right to do it," Le said. "I mean, she's part of the academic and wanted people in the class to have done the reading and I can completely understand."

But others said that Frank, a first-year professor at Harvard, shouldn't have expected all students to have completed the day's assignment, since many students were still catching up with prior readings and did not expect a change to discussion oriented class.

"Obviously, nobody is going to do [the reading], especially if people hadn't done the reading for the first half of the course anyway," Epstein said.

"All she did for the first part was lecture on the reading and people took notes, and that's how it was with her class and that's how it is with every class," Epstein said.

In addition, the hands raised may not have reflected the number of students who actually did the reading, Lynn Y. Lee '99 said.

"I don't think it was very realistic to expect a response, not only because people hadn't done the reading, but because of the atmosphere," Lee said, citing the size of the class as discouraging participation.

"Some people are wondering if this sets a precedent for the other lectures and if she's going to keep this approach for the rest of the classes," Le said.

Some students applaud the change.

"In a sense, it was a really good thing that this happened," Bharti said. "Because that will cause people to do the reading and come to class more prepared to engage in meaningful conversation in class.

"Obviously, nobody is going to do [the reading], especially if people hadn't done the reading for the first half of the course anyway," Epstein said.

"All she did for the first part was lecture on the reading and people took notes, and that's how it was with her class and that's how it is with every class," Epstein said.

In addition, the hands raised may not have reflected the number of students who actually did the reading, Lynn Y. Lee '99 said.

"I don't think it was very realistic to expect a response, not only because people hadn't done the reading, but because of the atmosphere," Lee said, citing the size of the class as discouraging participation.

"Some people are wondering if this sets a precedent for the other lectures and if she's going to keep this approach for the rest of the classes," Le said.

Some students applaud the change.

"In a sense, it was a really good thing that this happened," Bharti said. "Because that will cause people to do the reading and come to class more prepared to engage in meaningful conversation in class.