Combination Fields Easily Upset by War

This is the ninth and last in a series of articles discussing the effects of the present war on the departments of concentration, their courses, enrollment, and Faculties.

Most fragile and easily upset of all the University's departments of concentration by the war crisis are those combined fields which are materially little more than tutorial boards. Cradles of the tutorial system, they offer no courses themselves, but pick the meat from a variety of more restricted fields.

Last November the University listed 24 widely-varied combined fields having at least one concentrator each. Only four of them have more than five students, while the other 20 total exactly 38 concentrators. The larger quartet, nevertheless, are vital units of undergraduate instruction and Biochemical Sciences has 151 students and History and Literature 123.

Biochem Remains Constant

Biochemistry has been chiefly a premedical course, attracting undergraduates interested in a specific objective still practical today. Its enrollment has remained constant at about 50 students, from each class during the past several years and still holds to that figure. No one of its 12-man tutorial staff has left because of the war, but one or two are expected to be called within the next few months.

Rules of concentration in Biochem have undergone no changes. Six courses are still required for concentration and seven and a half for honors. Some adjustment in honors work may become necessary, however, because of the pressure of the accelerated program. Given at the end of the Senior year, the two three-hour divisionals will most probably be retained. Even now only tutorial Plan A students must take both examinations.

History and Literature has already been deeply affected by the war and has outlined a number of modifications for its accelerating concentrators. Of its Faculty two Teaching Fellows and tutors Richard W. Lewis and James A. Field, Jr. have gone, the former to the Air Corps and the latter to the Navy. This leaves the department with 10 tutors, most of whom, unlike those in Biochem, are on full-time in the combined field. History and Lit will extend tutorial through the summer only for men in the process of writing honors theses.

The department's rules of concentration have been thoroughly revised to meet the current situation. If the existing eight-course minimum proves too difficult, a reduction to, say, six may be effected. Reading requirements in Bible and Shakespeare and in Ancient Authors will be continued but will be more closely interwoven with tutorial work.

With 90 per cent of the field's Juniors registered as candidates for honors each year, the problem of divisionals has necessitated radical changes. The qualifying divisional for Juniors seeking honors has been entirely abandoned and concentrators will write their honors theses before taking a lone divisional at the climax of their College career. The entire emphasis will be to maintain the quality of the work in the past, even at the expense of the quantity accomplished. Students going through in four years will still be able to follow the old course of study.

Area of Social Science Hit

Newest of the fields of concentration is the Area of Social Science which was begun last year and attracted 28 members of the present Sophomore class. Almost before it could take its intended place, this department found it necessary to retrench. Of its five original tutors, only three remain. Donald V. McGranahan, instructor in Psychology, and Carl J. Friedrich, professor of Government, have been replaced by John T. Dunlop, Faculty instructor in Economics, and Overton H. Taylor, lecture on Economics At present the field has no tutors from either the Government or Psychology Department.

So far, there have been few changes in concentration requirements, but the demand for eight courses, and a thesis for honors candidates, as most students are, may have to be eased. Only tutorial instruction planned for the summer will be for theses writers. Although fewer concentrators are expected, the department will place Freshmen entering in June in the concentration field next fall. This is seen as the "most sensible thing to do" to prevent excessive repetition for already overburdened Faculty members.

Last of the four larger combined fields is Literature, which has lost one of its 26 concentrators to the more immediately practical intensive Russian. A general reduction of students in the field is foreseen as a trend resulting from the war and only half of the concentrators are expected back for the summer session. Despite the department's dualism of classical and modern literature, no changes in requirements for concentration have been found necessary and the Faculty, entirely part-time tutors, has gone unaffected.