Kirby Previews Curricular Review for UC

Last night’s Undergraduate Council meeting featured an hour-long question-and-answer session with Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby, as well as the approval of two pieces of legislation—including one protesting this year’s keg ban at the Harvard-Yale game.

In his repliesA to the council’s questions, Kirby emphasized the breadth of the College curricular reåview he kicked off earlier this month.

He referred to the review when answering questions about the Core, quality of instruction by teaching fellows, the possibility of instituting a transition period for first-year students to become accustomed to Harvard’s grading and a greater focus on the sciences within undergraduate education.

Although Kirby said nothing has been finalized and that the Core will be examined in the curricular review, he expressed a preference for maintaining a core curriculum.

“I do believe there should be a foundational or core element to Harvard undergraduate education,” Kirby said, noting that Harvard students chose not to matriculate Brown, which has no core requirements.

He also said the review will examine teaching fellow instruction.

According to Kirby, sections are only effective if they are led “not just by anyone,” but “by the professors of the future—our graduate students.”

He also said increasing the size of the Faculty is a priority.

“We absolutely do need more faculty,” Kirby said. “Our aim is to hire at least six new Faculty members every year for the next decade.”

He said promotion of junior faculty to full faculty positions will be far more frequent than in the past, when a large portion of Harvard’s junior faculty left for tenured positions elsewhere.

But he did not rule out hiring scholars already tenured at other institutions.

“We will still seek to steal the best professors from other fine universities,” Kirby said.

After one council member asked about implementing a transition period for grading of first-year students, Kirby said the review will not rule out the possibility.

“It should be something to look into,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, everything’s on the table in this review.”

Kirby also fielded questions about the University’s sexual harassment policy, students’ participation on the Ad Board, ethnic and cultural studies, reform of honors, preregistration and divestment, among other things.

He hailed the Afro-American Studies Department as “the best in the world,” and also recommended that students who want additional ethnic or cultural studies departments “transfer to history.”

“If you look at how these departments develop at Harvard and elsewhere...a group of Faculty members have an interest in the area,” he said. “These activities are best that they come up from the Faculty.”

When asked about whether the College will prolong library hours and Thanksgiving breaks, Kirby replied, “I have no idea.”

“It’s very good to be a new dean because you can really be ignorant,” he added, eliciting laughter from the council.

After Kirby concluded his session, the council approved two pieces of legislation.

The first, authored by Jason L. Lurie ’05, called for the council to “allocate $150 from the committee fund for candy to be handed out in front of the Science Center on Halloween.”

The bill passed easily.

The second was a resolution, sponsored by Michael R. Blickstead ’05, endorsing the Oct. 26 House Committee petition submitted to Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 protesting the ban on kegs at tailgates on the weekend of the Harvard-Yale game.

“I believe the bill will create solidarity with the HoCo’s and the entire student body. It shows that the student body has serious and legitimate concern about the keg ban,” Blickstead said. “If we don’t support this, then who are we representing?”

After debate and several failed amendment proposals, the resolution passed by a 29-to-6 margin, with four representatives abstaining.

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.