Three Large Core Classes Undergo Time Changes

Three large Core Curriculum courses changed their originally planned meeting times this semester, wreaking havoc on the schedules of hundreds of students.

Problems locating large lecture halls with the appropriate equipment caused professors to reschedule Science B-29, "Human Behavioral Biology," Literature and Arts B-29, "Beginnings of Modernism in the Visual Arts," and Historical Studies A-12, "International Conflicts in the Modern World," courses whose combined projected enrollments exceed 1000 students.

Before this semester, time changes "were very, very few," said Registrar of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Margaret E. Law. "I can't think of any off hand."

"The courses are getting larger and we haven't got many large rooms. I suspect we'll see more of this if the Core continues to expand," Law said.

The starting time of Science B-29, popularly nicknamed "Sex," was changed as of Monday because approximately 500 students, about 150 more than expected, crammed into Science Center B for an introductory lecture, according to Lecturer on Anthropology Terrence W. Deacon who teaches the course with Professor of Anthropology Irven DeVore.

No room large enough was available with the requisite audiovisual equipment to accomodate the herd of students at 11 a.m., the scheduled starting time, and thus DeVore and Deacon decided to reschedule the course rather than hold a lottery.

"We had to come up with a way which gave the opportunity to take the course to the most people," Deacon said. In accordance with this aim, he said, the class's meeting time was changed to 1 p.m.

Despite the time change, the B-29 professors decided to keep the original date, May 15. The course's new meeting time would have meant a final on May 23, the second-to-last day of exams. The prospect of such a late final, Deacon said, was very unpopular with students.

Lack of space was also the reason for the change in the meeting time of Historical Studies A-12, "International Conflicts in the Modern World," taught by Dillon Professor of International Affairs Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Nye said he expects an enrollment in A-12 of approximately 420, or about 50 more than when he last taught the course two years ago. And because of the increased enrollment, he said, he had to change his course's time in order to procure a large enough room, switching the course from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. before classes started.

"It's better to teach during lunch hour than kick people out of the course," Nye said. "That's the breaks."

Not space restraints but a professor's preference to teach in the new Sackler Art Museum's lecture hall was the reason for which the meeting time of another Core class was changed.

Literature and Arts B-29, "Beginnings of Modernism in the Visual Arts," will meet at 11:30 a.m., rather than the originally-scheduled 2:30 p.m., because of Professor of Fine Arts Timothy J. Clark's wish to take advantage of the Sackler's advanced audio-visual equipment, said Assistant Director of the Core Curriculum Joyce Toomri.