Information Please

ACCORDING TO History Department Chairman Angeliki E. Laiou, criticism of her department for unpredictable offerings and pages of brackets in the course catalogue is "sensationalism." If she is correct, 300 history concentrators are crying over illusory grievances and wearing "[History]" t-shirts which make no sense.

A quick scan through the history section of the course catalogue suggests that there is validity to students' complaints; almost half of the courses listed appear in brackets. But this, by itself, as Laiou points out, is not cause for all the student criticism. Robinson Hall offers an enormous number of courses--more, in fact, than its faculty could teach in a single year--and strives to offer all courses every other year.

Nor is it a problem that "faculty members go on leave, as they must, in order to do research." Harvard prides itself on having professors who are leaders in their fields, and students appreciate it.

Rather, the underlying problem with the History Department's program is its lack of coordinated planning. The bracketing system can only work if students are given complete information to plan their schedules in advance.

AS THE SYSTEM STANDS, history concentrators are engaged in a never-ending crap shoot. Will the course offered next year really be there come next September? Maybe, maybe not, nobody seems to know. History concentrators need assurances that the information they receive from the department in the course catalogue regarding course offerings is accurate and complete.

When a professor goes on leave, as history professors frequently do, a course that was previously offered every two years must wait an additional year before it is taught. Waiting two years to take a course is quite an imposition on students, but the burden can be eased if students were aware of the delay in advance.

This combination of unannounced leaves and courses offered at two-year intervals make it impossible to trust the department when it prints in the catalogue that a specific course will be offered next year. For example, Historical Study B-42, the department's only course on the Civil War and Reconstruction, was supposed to be offered this year. Now, according to the catalogue, it will have to wait until next year.

Donald Fleming's courses on American intellectual history were also supposed to be offered this year, according to last year's course catalogue. This year, they are in brackets. And "The Peopling of America" has disappeared from the catalogue without a trace. Now, is it "sensationalism" to call History Department offerings unpredictable?

INSTEAD OF SPENDING its energy defending itself against student criticism, the department should invest its energy in better meeting students' needs. History concentrators suffer from a crisis in confidence.

According to Fields of Concentration, freshman "planning to concentrate in History are urged to take at least one of [the introductory] courses." That's funny--three of the five listed this year are bracketed. And the same thing happened two years ago. Should Fields of Concentration be changed to read that every other freshmen class should take an intro course?

Fields of Concentration also states that there are four introductory courses on Europe--History 31, 41, 51, and 61. That's funny, History 41 and 61 weren't in the catalogue this year, nor last year, nor the year before. It's difficult to place full faith and confidence in a department which appears as though it doesn't even know what it's offering.

FEW PEOPLE EXPERIENCE more confusion and frustration than freshmen attempting to fill out a Plan of Study to concentrate in history. Concentrators should be given a schedule of offerings in the department covering the next two or three years. And finally, the department should make it a priority to offer its introductory courses every year.

Unexpected arrivals and departures are inevitable, and students should be tolerent. However, when the guard changes so quickly and frequently, students can't help but get the idea that courses are offered only randomly.