Social Studies Reacts To Loss Of Vichniac to Radcliffe Post

With the recent appointment of Judith E. Vichniac as the director of fellowships at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies has lost one of its longtime leaders.

Vichniac, who had been a lecturer in Social Studies since 1981, served as the director of studies for the program for the past 12 years. She accepted the new position in mid-August, but remained with the Social Studies program through shopping period.

Vichniac said that her decision to move to Radcliffe was based on the “new exciting challenge” that the position offered.

Lecturer on Social Studies Anya Bernstein will serve as the acting director of studies for this academic year. A search is now underway for a permanent replacement.

“I’m doing my best to carry on [Vichniac’s] torch,” Bernstein said.

Bernstein served as the assistant director of studies last year and has been a lecturer in the program since 1998.

She said she is planning to apply for the post on a permanent basis.

Several of those associated with the program said the change in administration has made little perceptible difference.

“I really haven’t noticed much change,” said Social Studies concentrator Steven C. Wu ’02. “[Bernstein] had obviously been doing a lot of work already.”

A professor in Social Studies agreed with Wu’s assessment.

“From my own perspective it hasn’t made any difference,” said Assistant Professor of Government and of Social Studies Glyn Martin, who is the professor for Social Studies 10 this year.

The director of studies for Social Studies is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the program—particularly the advising of students—and is similiar to the head tutor in other departments.

Krupp Foundation Professor of European Studies Charles S. Maier, who serves on the faculty committee that oversees the Social Studies program, said that the director of studies position is particularly important for the program because there are no senior faculty who hold appointments in Social Studies. He said that in a typical department these senior faculty members would assist in day-to-day operations.

“We know it’s a very important position,” Maier said. “I hope we’ll find somebody with the same capacity [as Vichniac].”

This transition comes at the same time as a transition in the leadership of the faculty committee that oversees the program.

Former Professor of Government Seyla Benhabib, who chaired the committee for the past three years, left Harvard this year for a position at Yale. When she announced her decision to leave the University last fall, Benhabib expressed frustration at the Social Studies program’s lack of departmental status or a graduate component.

However, Benhabib’s departure has had minimal impact this year, according to several associated with the program, particularly because Social Studies’s new chair—Professor of Government Grzegorz Ekiert—served as chair last year while Benhabib was on leave from the University.

Ekiert was also affiliated with the program when a graduate student at Harvard.

—Staff writer Daniel P. Mosteller can be reached at dmostell@fas.harvard.edu.