History - & - Literature

For many years at the turn of the century, all of Harvard's undergraduates concentrated in history and literature.

President A. Lawrence Lowell founded history and literature as Harvard's first and only concentration in 1906, as an alternative to the College's "elective system" of education.

According to the 1995-1996 Handbook for Students, concentrating in history and literature "is a demanding and at times frustrating enterprise, but can be immensely rewarding as well."

Since 1988, however, it seems that Harvard students may be finding the study of history and literature more frustrating than rewarding.

Although current concentrators have almost nothing but praise for the program, history and literature enrollments have decreased more than 36 percent in the last five years.

The all-honors concentration, which requires students to apply for admission in the spring of their first year, has dropped from 247 students in November 1990 to 157 this fall, according to the handbook.

The program is not alone, though. The decrease in enrollments may be indicative of a general trend away from the humanities and toward the hard sciences.

"It's part and parcel of the pendulum swing we've been noticing in the past couple of years away from the humanities and towards the more quantitative fields," says Dean of Undergraduate Education Lawrence Buell, who is also a professor of English and American literature and language.

"History and literature can find itself affected by the swing in a double sort of way," Buell says.

English Department enrollments have decreased from 426 in 1990 to 350 in 1994. By contrast, biochemical sciences enrollments have increased from 195 to 353 over the same period of time.

Kyle C. Wong '99-'98, an advanced standing student who plans to concentrate in history and literature, suggests that students' career aspirations may be leading them away from the humanities.

"A lot of jobs now are very science-oriented and the humanities are being neglected," he says.

Tough Requirements

In addition to the general trend toward the sciences, students and faculty in the history and literature program offer other explanations for the drop.

The concentration requires students to focus their studies on a single country or a limited period of time in several countries. The rigorous academic requirements include a sophomore essay, a junior essay, a junior general exam, a senior thesis and a senior oral exam.

"There's a lot of scary things that loom out, and that's intimidating to everyone," says J. Michael Friedman '97, a member of the History and Literature Student-Faculty Committee.

Janice Thaddeus, the director of studies for the History and Literature program, suggests that one reason for the drop in enrollment could be the change in requirements during the 1990-91 academic year.

According to Thaddeus, the requirements in the America field of the concentration were tightened and a foreign literature requirement added.

"We knew that that would mean that there would be a drop," Thaddeus says.

Buell agrees that since the foreign language requirement in history and literature goes beyond that required of all College students, enrolling in history and literature necessitates a strong background and interest in the humanities.

Indeed, Sandra T. Goldmark '97, another member of the student-faculty committee, says that the additional course requirements could be a deterrent.

"I think that there's a lot of requirements and it's pretty daunting, especially the foreign language requirement," Goldmark says.

"Because of such stringent requirements you have to really love both fields," she says.

Application Process

Concentrator Andrew L. Ellner '97 suggests that meeting the entrance requirements for potential concentrators could be contributing to the falling numbers.

"The fact that you have to apply might scare some people away," Ellner says.

But not all concentrators agree that having to apply is a factor in the decreasing enrollments.

"The admissions process is, frankly, very simple," says Jeremy D. Fiebert '97. "If that were the case, there would be drops in other application concentrations."

But that is clearly not the case.

The history and science program, another honors-only concentration which requires an application, has seen its enrollment rise from 77 in 1990 to 120 in 1994, and has continued to rise since then.

What About History?

Friedman suggests that another possible cause of the decrease in enrollment numbers is the draw of closely related departments.

"A lot of people in history and literature tend to sway a little more towards history or a little more towards literature," he says.

Friedman also says that because history and literature does not have its own professors, students may feel a little lost in the concentration.

"It's a pretty demanding major and it's pretty confusing," Friedman says. "You end up taking courses in so many departments."

Trumbull Professor of History Donald H. Fleming notes that social studies, as well as English and history are "natural rival[s]" for the history and literature program.

He says that history in particular has been "attracting much larger numbers."

Social studies enrollments have remained steady over the last five years. However, enrollment statistics have dropped in both literature and in the English and American Literature and Language Department.

Literature, also an all-honors concentration, had an enrollment of 75 students in 1988 and 48 in 1994.

The History Department experienced a similar drop, from 488 concentrators in 1986 to 228 in 1994.

But the concentration seems to be on the upswing. After a recent revamping of the history curriculum, first-year enrollments in history have increased from 55 in 1993 to 65 in 1994 to 91 in 1995.

The Draw to Hist and Lit

Professors in the programs say they are not overly concerned about the dropping enrollment numbers.

"I thought the numbers were dropping a little, but I didn't think it was such a big deal," Fleming says.

And Professor of English and American literature Daniel G. Donoghue, chair of the Committee on Degrees in History and Literature, says, "We are monitoring the enrollment, but we are not alarmed."

Donoghue says that while the program is trying to limit the number of concentrators in the American field, administrators are not limiting the number of concentrators overall.

According to Friedman, the student-faculty committee does plan to increase upperclass student involvement in recruiting potential concentrators.

And while Buell says that the committee is working to improve several aspects of the concentration, such as strengthening ties to the History Department, he notes that the projects were "not undertaken because of the number of concentrators fluctuating."

Thaddeus says that there are currently no plans to reduce the requirements.

"They are important requirements," she says. "Our students are learning the field better because of them."

Current concentrators say that lower enrollment numbers may be an advantage in a concentration which requires six semesters of tutorial.

First-year Wong says he was attracted to the concentration in part because of its individual focus.

Friedman says a smaller concentration allows students more contact with professors. And Goldmark notes that the format of the history and literature tutorial system, in which tutorials are taught one-on-one in the junior and senior years, favors a low student-tutor ratio.

In fact, those close to the concentration seem more concerned about the change in the location of the concentration office than about the dropping enrollment numbers.

"If there was any decline this year, I would attribute it to the fact that they shipped us off to Vanserg," says concentrator Elisabeth L. Ritter '97.

Buell agrees that there is little reason to be concerned about the decreasing enrollments.

He says the drop in concentrators seems like "a normal perturbation rather than a pathological or disturbing trend."

--Nicholas K. Mitrokostas contributed to the reporting of this story.