Calling for a Roman Dictator

The Core had long been threatening education like a gang of Carthaginians invading the Republic. Only in 2002 was it finally pronounced inadequate and in need of replacement. Its model of awkward categories and trivial information had led to a crisis of liberal education at the College, and so a review process began.

Four years down the road, there is a feeling of déjà vu; we are left where we started and signs of stagnation abound. The President that started the review was ousted, but not before he ousted the Dean that spearheaded the effort. The faculty still cannot agree; no single recommendation from the General Education Committee has been voted on yet.

The new Core program that the Committee on General Education put forward last week is a pragmatic salve for a timid soul. It does not say exactly what graduating Harvard College students should know, only that it be “relevant.” I suppose this excludes Literature and Arts B-48, “Chinese Imaginary Space, b”ut it does so little else. Does knowledge of Literature and Arts B-78, “Soundscapes” or English 151, “The 19-Century Novel” count for relevance in life? The departments, of course, have not agreed. The administrators, predictably, seem terrified to say. And I, personally, lack both knowledge and experience to decide.

Back in the spring, Assistant Dean of the College Stephanie H. Kenen hit the nail on the head: The review was “trying to come to something nobody would strongly object to as opposed to something everybody would be excited about.” The lack of a strong decision-maker killed any inspiring ideas in each proposal.

Later, when administrators were attempting to implement the non-plan, the application of the broader portal courses was pathetic at best. So far, only the Humanities and the Life Sciences courses show up in the Courses of Instruction, though the idea was approved by small subcommittees almost two years ago. Indecision persists and the crisis at the core remains.

In view of our cyclical short-term history, maybe we should go further back. In times of crisis, the Roman senate possessed an admirable means of securing both continuity and decisive action. The powerful and populous Senate (think the Faculty of Arts and Sciences) would let consuls (think Core Committee) elect a dictator (think successful administrator) with a specific agenda (think Core reform) and a rigid timetable. Paradoxically, in order to preserve the Republic’s freedom, the republican principles of plural collegiality and responsibility needed to be abandoned.

By most accounts, the system succeeded in saving the Republic from external invaders and internal rebellions alike. According to legend, Cincinnatus was plowing his field when called to dictatorship, an activity that he blissfully resumed after having saved the Republic. In view of our current bureaucratic standstill, I venture that this is the path Harvard should take.

Interim Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles shrewdly provided a precedent when he bypassed the snail-paced Core Committee in approving the Humanities courses for Core credit. Two of the courses were immediately granted Literature and Arts A status, and one was deemed more suitable to fulfill the Moral Reasoning requirement. Paradoxically again, this dictatorial measure actually enhanced students’ freedom instead of diminishing it.

The case of the Humanities portal courses should become the rule. Instead of leaving it up to the Faculty to approve the Core, FAS should appoint a small group of trusted professors—like those who produced the report over the summer—and provide them with the specific mandate to choose and swiftly implement a new Core. Only decisive action, maybe through an educational Cincinnatus, will save us from the deluge.



Pierpaolo Barbieri ’09, a Crimson editorial editor, is a history concentrator in Eliot House.