Minors to Begin this Fall

Well over a dozen departments plan to submit secondary field proposals to the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) for approval by next fall.

At least seven departments will consider allowing members of the class of 2007 to declare a secondary field retroactively.

Departments have the final say in determining whether next year’s seniors will be able to declare a secondary field in the spring, according to Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71.

The full Faculty approved the Curricular Review legislation to implement secondary fields a month ago.

Secondary fields will not appear on diplomas but will appear on transcripts, according to Assistant Dean of Harvard College Stephanie H. Kenen.

Some graduate programs—which are not available as undergraduate concentrations—will also propose secondary fields for undergraduates.

Seventeen concentrations aim to have secondary field proposals ready for EPC approval sometime this fall, including Astronomy, The Classics, English and American Literature and Language, Environmental Science and Public Policy, Folklore and Mythology, Government, History, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Mathematics, Music, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Philosophy, Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Sociology, Statistics, and Film Studies, a track in the VES department, according to department chairs and directors of undergraduate studies.

Departments that will consider allowing next year’s seniors to declare a secondary field in their area include Astronomy, English, Government, History, Music, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Sanskrit and Indian Studies.

Some concentrations hope to approve secondary field proposals in meetings before the end of the academic year, while others will discuss secondary fields over the summer or in the early fall.

Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) has already voted on a secondary field proposal, Head Tutor in Biology David Haig wrote in an e-mail. The secondary field, if approved, will consist of five OEB courses, with Life

Sciences 1b counting as one of them, Haig wrote. Members of the class of 2007 will be able to declare secondary fields in OEB if they meet the requirements.

A secondary field in English and American Literature and Language might consist of six courses: three required courses, including an English 90 or 97 seminar, and three electives, Director of Undergraduate Studies Gordon Teskey wrote in an e-mail. He added that the structure of the secondary field is still uncertain, since the full department has yet to discuss the proposal.

But, he wrote, “I see no reason why we will not have a secondary field up and running by the beginning of the fall term.”

Chair of the History Department Andrew D. Gordon ’74 said the department plans to vote on a secondary field proposal next Thursday. While some details may be adjusted, Gordon said, students will probably be required to take the History 97 tutorial and five other courses.

Several departments, including The Classics, Government, Linguistics, Music, Philosophy, and Sanskrit and Indian Studies, may offer multiple secondary fields in different tracks, according to directors of undergraduate studies.

The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies will develop a secondary field over the summer, said Lisbeth L. Tarlow, the center’s associate director.

The Ph.D. program in Health Policy, which currently has 80 undergraduates enrolled in a certificate program, will also submit a secondary field, director of the program Joan P. Curhan said. This secondary field will consist of four or five courses related to health policy, Curhan said, including one required course, “General Education 186: Introduction to Healthcare Policy.”

The descriptions of approved secondary fields will be posted on a new website, since none of the secondary fields will be ready to appear in the handbook for students, Kenen said.

“Freshmen and sophomores will be able to check that website on a regular basis to see if their dream secondary field can come true,” said David J. Roxburgh, director of undergraduate studies in the History of Art and Architecture department.

The department proposals will include the justification for creating a secondary field, a list of courses that would count for secondary field credit, which faculty members would organize and administer secondary fields, and what advising resources would be available to students, Gross wrote in an e-mail.

The EPC still needs to work out the details of how secondary fields will affect core course exemptions, Kenen said.

“There are potential inequity problems,” Kenen said. “Depending on what gets on the agenda and what gets approved first, some seniors will be able to do this and some won’t...That’s a tradeoff we had to make in terms of moving ahead quickly.”

Students planning on completing secondary fields will not be required to include them on their plans of study, Kenan said.

—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.