Entering the Season of Dual Submission

Dual submission--handing in the same piece of work for two different classes--may sound tempting. It's even legal.

However, according to the Harvard Handbook for Students, "If the same or similar work is to be submitted to more than one course during the same term, the prior written permission of all instructors involved must be obtained."

Dual submission is legal, but according to professors, it's still rare for students to take advantage of the policy.

"I get maybe two or three requests a semester," said History and Literature Lecturer Dirk M. Killen '82, who is also the senior tutor in Pforzheimer House.

Students agree that the opportunity to dual submit does not arise frequently. Most of those interviewed generally don't consider the possibility of dual submission.

"I don't think I'm taking classes that would be applicable," said Nathan D. Dean '00, an economics concentrator.

Dean's case seems common. Students said one reason they don't plan to dual submit when they are assigned papers is that few courses at the College overlap to the extent where dual submission is possible.

"I think it would be excitingly convenient if that ever happened," Elizabeth N. Dewar '02 said, although the first-year was not optimistic about the possibility.

Others echoed Dewar's sentiments and said that it's often not worth the effort trying to produce a paper that fulfills more than one requirement.

"I considered writing a paper for dual submission but I changed my mind," said David B. Waller '00 in an e-mail. "My reversal owed mostly to the trouble I was having imagining a topic that wouldn't ultimately produce a paper that read like two smaller ones stuck awkwardly together."

Yet the few students who have taken advantage of the dual submission policy cite its many merits. They include less time spent at the computer, increased ability to develop a given topic and exploring interdisciplinary approaches.

"Not only did I feel was better able to delve into my topic, Kristy L. Garcia '98 wrote in an e-mail, "but it also cut about 10 to 15 pages of writing for me."

"I think it's a great way to learn," said Alexander T. Nguyen '99, who is also a Crimson editor. "The idea of a true liberal arts education is to integrate what you learn in one class and apply it to the other--dual submitting papers is a great way of doing that."

However, students who dual submit tread a fine line between becoming entangled in College bureaucracy and gaining time to fully develop a paper topic.

"Most faculty people require lengthening the paper--the philosophy is you want to kill two birds with one stone," said Nguyen. "They hate to see someone take the easy way out, I think that is the tradeoff."

"There are a lot of raised expectations with dual submissions, from both professors' points of view, and that aspect was what worried me the most," Garcia said. "In the end it actually went quite well, surprisingly enough."

Dual submission is seen as a risk by students, but well worth it if classes overlap. And few Faculty members disagree with the policy. Many said that if coursework for two classes overlap, it reasonable that one paper will logically fill two requirements.

"As long as they are doing work that satisfies both professors involved, they should be allowed [to dual submit]," said. Mark P. Risinger, Kirkland House senior tutor and music lecturer concerning students who choose to dual submit.

Some instructors not only accept the dual submission policy, but they strongly support it.

"In general, our students are suffering from pressures, [and] are losing a sense of leisure which is essential for good scholarship in the humanities and social sciences," wrote Seyla Benhabib, chair of the committee on degrees in social studies, in an email. "Anything I can do to alleviate that, I do."

"It makes for a more substantial final project in each course, and it may provide a bit more coherence in the students' lives," wrote William M. Todd, dean of undergraduate education.

But some Faculty members disagree, saying they feel that an educational opportunity is sacrificed by dual submission.

"If a student takes a fresh course, that student should do fresh work," wrote Roderick MacFarquhar, chair of the government department, in an e-mail.

The general feeling, however, is favorable, with professors offering assurances to students that they can go by the book.

"The standards of conduct [in the student handbook] are voted by The Faculty," said Killen. "What you're seeing is pretty much the faculty sum consensus."