Gov. to Give Credit For Lang., Quant. Study

A policy change this year in the Government Department will allow concentrators to take quantitative study or advanced language classes for concentration credit.

"It's a loosening rather than a tightening of the department requirements," said Louise Richardson, head tutor of Government, "and thus student reaction to the changes has been overwhelmingly positive."

The change is only one in a series of improvements and policy changes that have resulted from a general curriculum review started by the department a year ago.

The ongoing review is being conducted by a group of six Gov faculty members, who met over the course of last year in consultation with the Undergraduate Affairs Council, the Minority Student Advisory Committee, and a student-organized group called Women in Government.

Assistant Professor of Government Jennifer Widner, who serves as head of the faculty committee, explained that many students have in the past petitioned for combined concentrations in language and government, but that as "language is a tool used in the field of government," the department would rather give concentration credit than approve combined concentrations.

"The same is true with quantitative study. It is a tool needed in the field of government, and so our hope is to encourage students to study statistics or statistics in the field of economics," elaborated Widner. "Ideally, we would offer our own courses in these fields, but that's way down the road."