The Curse of the Bracket: Wading Through the Course Catalog

When the 800-page course guide arrived in your mailbox, you were likely overwhelmed by the immense offerings Harvard presents. A closer look at academic life here in Cambridge, however, shows that the possibilities aren't quite as endless as they seem.

Look out for bracketed classes (hint: they aren't being offered this year); some departments are actually offering only three or four classes this semester.

Comparative Literature, for example, has a total of two classes for fall semester, and the Folk and Myth department comes in second with a whopping three.

Perhaps you were thinking about concentrating in Women's Studies or Afro-American Studies.

Well, forget about taking Women's Studies 101, "Introduction to Women's Studies," because it's not offered this year. Its instructor, one of Harvard's most popular professors, left last year after not receiving tenure (that happens a lot, you'll soon notice).

And those famous Af-Am teachers Harvard has--called the "Dream Team"--well, four of them are on leave this semester.

It's not all bad though. Some classes being offered this semester have the whole campus buzzing about them.

With a new course on the Swing Era this spring, Core shoppers no longer have to resign themselves to classes like Literature and Arts B-35, "The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent: Art, Architecture, and Ceremonial at the Ottoman Court."

Monster courses like Moral Reasoning 22, "Justice," and Social Analysis 10, "Principles of Economics," which draw about 1,000 students to Sanders Theatre respectively, aren't going anywhere.

And while you'll find that professors like Justice's Michael J. Sandel will be little more than a speck on stage during lecture, if you make the effort to talk with them, they may surprise you with their accessibility.

Sandel answered his own phone during the reporting of this article.

--Tova A. Serkin