Gen Ed Survey Courses Should be Offered to Underclassmen

To the editors:



Among the many causes relating to Lawrence Summers’ downfall, one that is worth dwelling on is the debate over undergraduate general education at Harvard. The college now offers, for example, fewer of the kind of survey courses many undergraduates want and need—the sort of connect-the-dot overviews of the arts and sciences that form the foundation of a liberal education. Understandably, most Harvard faculty members want to teach their specialties. The core curriculum tried to bridge the gap by emphasizing methods of study rather than content, but it doesn’t seem to have truly satisfied anyone.

The ongoing discussion of curriculum reform has produced very smart papers by distinguished faculty members, from a variety of perspectives, on the goals of liberal education. And the self-proclaimed “Gang of Four” suggested an offering of rigorous survey courses. The report produced by the curriculum review didn’t reflect those concerns. But maybe the controversy over Summers’ departure provides the chance to look at this particular issue anew.

One fairly simply approach might be to create four new survey courses that would be offered to freshmen and sophomores: The History of Civilization; The History of Science; The History of Social Thought (philosophy, politics, economics, sociology); and the History of Arts and Literature.

These surveys are cast as history courses because that is one straightforward way of imparting the progress and relationships that developed in each field. They would also provide a basic framework that would allow students some context for choosing more specialized courses.

In order for this to work, it would be important to hire—perhaps on a non-tenured contract basis—great and distinguished teachers who know how to lecture and inspire. They should be paid very well, as should their section leaders. They would be appointed by the president and a search committee on general education. Some of the professors would likely be distinguished and revered academics at the end of their careers at Harvard or other universities.

Initially, these courses could be offered as an option for freshmen and sophomores who feel the need for the foundation that they would provide. Later, after there has been time to assess the value of these courses, the faculty may wish to recommend that students be required to take two or three of them outside of their area of concentration.

Endowing these programs should not be hard, since many alumni would be proud to support such an option. There would likely be widespread approval both from students and the general public. The benefit to Harvard admissions would be instantaneous. Most importantly, undergraduates would have a greater opportunity to get a solid general education in addition to all of the other academic benefits that Harvard offers.