Only 7 Applicants Taken As Special Concentrators

Since January, the Committee on Special Studies has allowed seven students to follow programs they set up themselves, free from departmental requirements. But, that freedom does not come easy: 15 applied.

The program is "not designed for students who don't want a concentration at all, who want an undergraduate program composed largely or entirely of general education or distributed education," Dean May, who chairs the Committee, said yesterday.

The purpose, May said, is "to provide opportunities for students with special interests-and I emphasize special interests-which cannot be accommodated by existing concentrations."

Besides proof that the student cannot pursue his interests within present departments, the committee requires a program with "intellectual coherence." The applicant draws up a course of study including six courses-eight if he opts for honors-which the Committee reviews and alters.

A special concentration does not allow any more independent study than do other regular departments, that is, one per term.

Several Stages

An applicant usually discusses his plans first with the Senior Tutor or Master of his House. Afterwards, if he has cleared his proposal with the departments involved, he brings it to the committee. At each stage he may have to revise his program several times.

The Committee requires a Faculty sponsor and endorsement from the House Committee or Senior Tutor reviewing the student's plans. The student must also produce statements from the appropriate departments that they could not handle his program, the plan of study he would follow if accepted, and an alternative plan in case he is rejected.

Three plans were refused because they lacked the necessary papers. Two others were accepted after a review. All the students whose plans passed weremen; only three women applied. Some plans seemed shallow, while a few "sounded like topics for a Ph.D. thesis," Barbara M. Solomon, associate dean of the College and member of the Committee, said, "and we felt that the student could not handle the work."

None of the rejections are final, however, and students may re-submit applications at any time. There is no grade cut-off point, Solomon said, nor a limit on the number of special concentrators.

Irritation

The process of application has irritated some students. "It was like a fifth course trying to set this up," one student now enrolled in a special concentration said. "It requires great effort to change your plan again and again-I suspect this is a test of sincerity. They probably worried about History and Lit rejects, and overreacted."

Another student, whose plan was not approved, objected to the Committee's requirements. "They almost ask for a reverse perspective-what would you have taken in college? I do not yet know exactly which courses, because I have not yet studied the subject thoroughly. This is what advisors are for," he said. He had spent the entire semester break talking to Faculty and advisors, revising his schedule 12 times.

"They [the Committee] might have read my project through," he added, "but they will never convince me. The House Committee read and approved it, with no revisions. I heard that one member of the Committee did not like my title, he said, 'it is a topic, not a discipline'."

The student will apply again at the Committee's next meeting, in April.

Feedback

Besides offering alternatives to students, the special concentrations should provide feedback on new ideas. "We hope that the Faculty will learn more about new intellectual prospects among students," Solomon said, "and that the Committee will affect traditional departments by giving us leads on what people are missing."

The programs range from projects in neuroscience and ecology to studying hellenistic Greek and the origins of Christianity. In the Greek program, Paul Zahl '72 will study with New Testament scholars at the Divinity School, as part of his independent study.

"Our standards are high, like any department's," Solomon said. "It is important that students not get the idea that this is a fake-it is hard, but real."