Reading Period Woes

Ahh, second semester reading period. Spring fever is in the air, and we lucky Harvard students have two weeks to relax and enjoy the warm weather. What could be better than Frisbee in the Yard or sunning on the MAC quad--not to mention the opportunity to redeem oneself by catching up on all that reading not done in the last three months? By the time finals come around, we'll all be incredibly well-studied and might even have great tans to boot.

But who are we kidding? This is, after all, New England--the only place on the planet where the weather can change from sunshine to rain in the time it takes to walk from the Science Center to Loker. It is also Harvard, the school where "reading period" is actually a glorified "work period."

Instead of 12 days of finals preparation, we are loaded down with research papers, problem sets and extra material not covered during the semester. In the space of a second, those two empty weeks are engulfed by a tidal wave of last-minute, high-pressure assignments. Papers are barely due in enough time to catch a night's sleep before sitting down for exams.

To be fair, the University never promised that "reading period" was time set aside exclusively for studying. In fact, its official definition couldn't be farther from the myth that the name "reading period" perpetuates.

According to the 1998-99 Handbook for Students, reading period is supposed to be "an integral part of the term" when "Faculty members may choose not to hold formal class meetings" but should instead "allow students to work independently, exploring special topics or integrating the material covered in the course through a term paper or other project."

The term "reading period," then, would seem to be merely a misnomer. But quibbling about an incorrect label only serves to draw our attention away from the deeper problems that exist. The biggest of these is that, as students, we are paying over $30,000 a year to attend a university whose professors basically call it quits two weeks early.

During reading period, school moves along as usual; we have the same papers to write, the same endless workload and (if you have a conscientious TF) the same sections to attend. The only thing missing is the teaching; professors are not required to prepare and deliver the lectures which constitute the backbone of our education. In other words, we are getting shortchanged in the learning department without any of the benefits that come with a true "reading period."

The solution is not to do away with the two "free" weeks altogether, but to establish a reading period that will actually serve as a time for undergraduates to concentrate exclusively on studying for finals. We'd all be better off.