310 Freshmen Will Take Seminars; Program Expanded From Last Year

More than 400 students have applied to an expanded Freshman Seminar Program during the first weeks of the Fall term. About 310 gained admission, Byron Stookey, Jr. '54, associate director of Advanced Standing, said yesterday.

Stookey pointed out that the exact number of seminar members will remain unknown until after the final freshman study cards have been checked.

The program includes 32 seminars this year, five more than previously, and the 310-students enrollment figure exceeds the 1960-61 total by about 10. Exactly half of the seminars being offered fall in the social sciences, with the rest evenly divided between natural sciences and humanities.

Twenty of the offerings are being given for the first time. Social science topics appear in 13 of the new entries, account for the slant towards these studies in the overall program.

In line with students interest in African problems and culture, Andrew G. Jameson, assistant professor of History, has started a new seminar on the "geography, history, and enthnography of East and Northeast Africa." His group will work all year, for full course credit.

Another new seminar reflecting current student concern is the one under Martin Shapiro, instructor in Government, on "current civil rights problems and what the Supreme Court can, does, and should do about them." Possible specific problems include "voting rights, testimony before Congressional Committees, obscene publications, Sunday closing laws, and Communist party membership."

As in the past, most of the seminars carry course credit and none are graded.

Seminars carrying course credit can be taken by qualified students in lieu of one of their usual courses. A non-credit seminar is generally taken in addition to the normal load.