Alfred's Hum Is Largest Course

Students at Harvard and Radcliffe still flock to guts.

Humanities 7, an admittedly easy halfcourse in "New Trends in the British and American Theatre" taught by William Alfred, professor of English, has enrolled 945 students to make it the University's largest course in recent years.

Perenially popular Ec 1 is second with 719 students, followed by Soc Rel 10 with 536, Fine Arts 13 with 398, and Gov 1a with 383.

Alfred said his course "is easy, but that doesn't mean it's gut." "Students are so good at it because it's the literature of their age," he said yesterday. Students claim the course "isn't graded terribly hard" and is relaxed. A final exam question last year asked for a comparison between Bonnie of Bonnie and Clyde and Desdemona of Othello.

Alfred said that when he planned the course he hoped his example would encourage more full professors to teach, considering the relatively light load of a half course. This has happened, Alfred said, but more, not fewer, students have enrolled in some of the courses. The size of Hum 7, he said, "bewilders" him.

Other courses among the top ten in enrollment this year include Soc Sci 134, taught by John Kenneth Galbraith, Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics, English 164 ("Modern British Fiction"), Nat Sci 110, Nat Sci 5, and Music 1.

Of last year's top ten, only Hum 7, Ec 1, Soc Rel 10, and Nat Sci 5 remain on this year's list. Soc Sci 112, English 151, and English 160 (another modern drama course) are not being given this year.

History 134a, a legendary gut under the late Crane Brinton '19, was last year's largest course with 765 students. This year, taught by H. Stuart Hughes, professor of History, it has dropped off the list, along with Math 1a and Nat Sci 3.