The Hole in Our Education

Harvard assumes, not always without reason, that its American undergraduates possess scant knowledge of European and Ancient History. To fill this void, the college offers courses such as History 10a, “Western Societies, Politics, and Cultures: From Antiquity to 1650” and History 10b, which does the same job from 1648 up to the present.

But the College forgets that its international students are correspondingly likely to have gaps in their high school education, especially when it comes to American history. After all, few international students—with the exception of those who, like myself, attended American high schools—have ever taken a U.S. history course. Many foreign students express interest in enrolling in a History 10a or 10b-like course that will provide them with an introduction to the major themes of American history. But for the past two years, Harvard has not offered one. There was previously such a course in the form of History 71a and 71b, but it was discontinued in 2005, to the detriment of our education. Harvard should, with its scrapping of the core, take the opportunity to restore these vital courses to the books.

This oversight is ironic, since the College proudly stakes its claims to internationalism and world prestige. Yet it fails to take into account this very basic need on the part of internationals, who comprise nearly 10 percent of the Harvard undergraduate population.

After all, for an international with no background in U.S. history, taking a general survey course on the subject would prove far more useful in understanding modern America than the more specific history core offerings, such as Historical Study B-34. “The World in 1776” or Historical Study B-40, “Pursuits of Happiness: Ordinary Lives in Revolutionary America.” If international students are not familiar with the basic events and people of the American Revolution, then how are they expected to appreciate classes as narrow in scope as these? Without a broad knowledge of U.S. history, the context of the courses is impossible to ascertain, thus many internationals are excluded from a host of potentially interesting classes.

Even international students concentrating in history are given few opportunities to learn about the “big picture” of American history. Introduction to the major fields in the History Department through tutorials such as History 90e, “The Major Themes in American Historical Writing” already assume previous knowledge of American history, making it hard for foreign students to study this field—few students choose to enroll in classes that assume knowledge they do not have. Unsurprisingly, I often find that I am the only international in the room in American history classes.

Furthermore, historical context is important not just academically but in order to fully comprehend the present developments in America, such as the misadventure in Iraq and the debate on immigration. Given America’s superpower status, every Harvard graduate ought to possess a broad and sophisticated understanding of American history—something not always provided even by an American high school. Given that most Harvard undergraduates, both international and not, will work and live in America, understanding the roots of public discourse will invariably help students better comprehend the world around them.

Now that both the preliminary and the final report of the Task Force on General Education have acknowledged that U.S. history is of central importance to our education, the College must seize this opportunity to introduce such a survey U.S. History course, and must not allow the US requirement to become filled by the arcane and obscure.

While the report of the Task Force on General Education has identified American history as instrumental in “help[ing] students understand this country as a heterogeneous and multifaceted nation situated within an international framework,” it again overlooks the necessity of providing students with an introductory course in American history. The time has come for Harvard to acknowledge that there is a big gap in our education—and to fill it.

Ana I. Mendy ’09, a Crimson editorial editor, is a history concentrator in Cabot House.