Some Minors To Start in Fall

Members of the Class of 2007 may graduate with a secondary field on their transcript.

The Educational Policy Committee (EPC) will begin approving secondary fields on a rolling basis over the next several weeks, and at least 10 departments plan to submit proposals by Oct. 15—the deadline for fall consideration.

“If a particular department offers a secondary field immediately, those students who are interested can get started right away,” Assistant Dean of the College Stephanie H. Kenen said. “But if you’re not interested, you’re going to have to wait. We could’ve made everyone wait, but we chose to start the implementation right away.”

If a department misses the fall deadline, it might have to wait until after Feb. 15 for consideration in the spring.

In addition to the departments that have already submitted proposals, at least another six have expressed interest in meeting the fall deadline, according to Kenen.

Five departments confirmed that they plan to submit proposals before the October 15 deadline, including Celtic Languages and Literatures, Classics, English and American Literature and Language, History of Art and Architecture, and Philosophy, according to department chairs. The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies also intends to submit a proposal by the first deadline, according to Lisbeth L. Tarlow, the associate director of the center.

As of this past spring, at least 16 concentrations aimed to have secondary field proposals ready for EPC approval this fall, including Astronomy, Classics, English and American Literature and Language, Environmental Science and Public Policy, Visual Environmental Studies, Folklore and Mythology, Government, History, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Math, Music, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Sociology, and Statistics, according to department chairs and directors of undergraduate studies.

The programs differ in a variety of ways, according to Kenen: “Some have submitted one track; some have submitted more than one track. Some are very complete; some need to get us more information. Here is one flexible track; here are five specific options for you.”

The Classics Department, for example, plans to offer just one secondary field program, which it voted to call “Classical Civilization.” The proposal recommends requiring five half-courses, one of which must be either Classics 97a or 97b, according to Jan M. Ziolkowski, Porter Professor of Medieval Latin. Students may pick the remaining four half-courses from all those offered in the Classics section of the Course of Instruction, including Core courses and other cross-listed courses. Ziolkowski added that no more than two half-courses may be below the level of Greek or Latin Ba.

The Astronomy Department, on the other hand, plans to offer two tracks. The first option, “Astrophysics,” is aimed at students with a good background in physics and math, according to James M. Moran, Menzel professor of astrophysics and the Astronomy Department chair. The second option, “Astronomy” would “provide an introduction to observational phenomena and explore new and unsolved problems,” Moran wrote in an e-mail.

It is possible that students will not be able to pursue a secondary field in Economics, the most popular concentration.

“We have very many concentrators now and many of our classes are large, larger than either students or faculty want,” Professor of Economics James H. Stock wrote in an e-mail. “So our challenge is to address the demand for secondary concentrations in a way that does not stretch our resources even thinner and thereby degrade the quality of education we provide to our undergraduates.”

At its first meeting next week, the EPC will discuss the criteria and process for reviewing proposals, but it will not begin examining them.

Kenen said she does not expect to post any of the approved secondary fields on the web site until Oct. 15.

No secondary field may be added to the degree after the deadline published in the Handbook for Students—the seventh Monday of the fall term for March degree candidates and the seventh Monday of the spring term for June and November degree candidates—according to the Secondary Fields web site.

The new curricular option will allow students to receive recognition on their transcripts, but not on their diplomas, according to the site.

The EPC will make recommendations to the Core Standing Committee, when relevant, for secondary fields that meet the requirements for Core areas.

Additional logistical details about the process, such as how students would track their requirements and inform the Registrar’s Office have not yet been resolved.

“We could have said, ‘OK, we’re going to wait a year before we implement this to get all the details worked out and all the designs in place, and thus wait a year until any of this happens,’” Kenen said. “But the faculty chose let’s-go-ahead-as-soon-as-we-can, and that means all the details might not be ironed out as quickly as we like, so there might be some bumps along the way.”

—Staff writer Lois E. Beckett can be reached at lbeckett@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Johannah S. Cornblatt can be reached at jcornbl@fas.harvard.edu.