Humanities Complex Misses Original Purpose

The massive reconstruction of the Freshman Union was once intended to knit together the Faculty's diverse humanities departments.

But while the project will provide more office space for cramped professors, it may not meet its ambitious original goals.

Instead of one compact complex, the Humanities Quad will now include Boylston Hall, physically isolated from the southeast corner of the Yard.

Administrators are claiming Boylston as a part of the project, but faculty members bill the "two pillar" approach to the center as a compromise, not necessarily a triumph.

"I think it's going to be pluses and minuses," says Ellen Dipippo, a staff assistant to the Women's Studies committee.

One of the minuses is probably the relocation of the Expository Writing Program, which will be temporarily housed in the Vanserg Building, scarcely the "location central to all first-year students" desired by Director Nancy Sommers.

"I'm hopeful and trust the powers-that-be," she says. Sommers, who took over the program on July 1, wants space in the Union complex to bring her discipline closer to "the fabric of learning," she says.

There is no guarantee she will get what she wants. Five departments will be in Boylston, and 12 will work in the Union complex.

"I think that is going to be a shame," says Weary Professor of German and Comparative Literature Judith L. Ryan about the two different sites. "I would prefer it all to be in one space, but that would require a mammoth building."

The location compromise was finally based on space needs, says the Faculty's director of planning. Philip J. Parsons.

English and Romance Languages and Literatures are the two largest departments housed in the buildings. Like major department stores in a mall, they will "anchor" the two sites.

The English department will be in the Union complex, ending its current split into three different sites: 8 Prescott Street, Warren House and 34 Kirkland Street.

Romance Languages will stay in Boylston.

"The objectives of the plan had been defeated by itself, in a sense," Parsons says. "The notion was to bring all these humanities departments and centers together in one location. It turned out that there simply wasn't enough space to do justice to the needs of all these different groups."

English Department Chair Leo Damrosch says he is delighted that the department will be under one roof. The original conception of a united humanities complex was "probably always a fantasy," he says.

"If it were a true humanities building, you would have art history and philosophy and music, but that would be an ideal world," Damrosch said. "If that was really what they had in mind, they would have put the departments we had the most contact with in there," such as the history department, Damrosch says.

History will remain in Robinson Hall.

Lea Professor of Medieval History Thomas N. Bisson, who chairs the department, says he does not feel left out.

"The Harvard Yard is not that big," Bisson says. "We meet each other in lots of buildings. I don't think the fact of not having offices next to other colleagues makes much difference."

Bisson says he would like to see his department considered part of the humanities as well as the social sciences at Harvard. But not being in the humanities complex has little relation to that distinction, he says.

"My understanding is that the argument is perfectly practical, that history has a nice old building in the Yard which is mostly sufficient," Bisson says.

If faculty members aren't completely happy about the new complex, it's not for lack of consultation.

In August 1993, a professional consultant interviewed almost 90 percent of the faculty slated to move into the quad, a total of more than 90 people.

Associate Dean of the Faculty Polly Price developed a questionnaire for the interviews. The form asked about departments' technological needs, how often professors meet with graduate students in their offices, and how administrators handle professors' travel plans.

Professors' biggest fear was a cookie-cutter complex, shoehorning each department into a similar office suite, Price says.

As a result, the message sent to the architects clearly stated that maintaining the integrity of the different departments was a high priority, Price says.

Faculty members say they were grateful for the extensive consultation, even if physical limitations had to play a big role in deciding where each would actually end up.

"I have to say that the administration has really gone out of its way to try to include as many people as it could in the decision process," says Potebnja Professor of Ukrainian Philology Michael S. Flier, who chairs the linguistics department.

The complex will meet the space goals outlined by Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles in a July 19 letter to faculty. He wanted to consolidate each department in one location and provide unshared departmental offices to all professors.

"For the first time, everyone in the English department will have an office," says Professor of Germanic Philology Eckehard Simon, a member of the humanities quad planning committee.

Before this, "even the full professors had to share offices," he says.CrimsonMarion B. GammellWarren House, currently one of the English department's three locations, will be part of the humanities center.

English Department Chair Leo Damrosch says he is delighted that the department will be under one roof. The original conception of a united humanities complex was "probably always a fantasy," he says.

"If it were a true humanities building, you would have art history and philosophy and music, but that would be an ideal world," Damrosch said. "If that was really what they had in mind, they would have put the departments we had the most contact with in there," such as the history department, Damrosch says.

History will remain in Robinson Hall.

Lea Professor of Medieval History Thomas N. Bisson, who chairs the department, says he does not feel left out.

"The Harvard Yard is not that big," Bisson says. "We meet each other in lots of buildings. I don't think the fact of not having offices next to other colleagues makes much difference."

Bisson says he would like to see his department considered part of the humanities as well as the social sciences at Harvard. But not being in the humanities complex has little relation to that distinction, he says.

"My understanding is that the argument is perfectly practical, that history has a nice old building in the Yard which is mostly sufficient," Bisson says.

If faculty members aren't completely happy about the new complex, it's not for lack of consultation.

In August 1993, a professional consultant interviewed almost 90 percent of the faculty slated to move into the quad, a total of more than 90 people.

Associate Dean of the Faculty Polly Price developed a questionnaire for the interviews. The form asked about departments' technological needs, how often professors meet with graduate students in their offices, and how administrators handle professors' travel plans.

Professors' biggest fear was a cookie-cutter complex, shoehorning each department into a similar office suite, Price says.

As a result, the message sent to the architects clearly stated that maintaining the integrity of the different departments was a high priority, Price says.

Faculty members say they were grateful for the extensive consultation, even if physical limitations had to play a big role in deciding where each would actually end up.

"I have to say that the administration has really gone out of its way to try to include as many people as it could in the decision process," says Potebnja Professor of Ukrainian Philology Michael S. Flier, who chairs the linguistics department.

The complex will meet the space goals outlined by Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles in a July 19 letter to faculty. He wanted to consolidate each department in one location and provide unshared departmental offices to all professors.

"For the first time, everyone in the English department will have an office," says Professor of Germanic Philology Eckehard Simon, a member of the humanities quad planning committee.

Before this, "even the full professors had to share offices," he says.CrimsonMarion B. GammellWarren House, currently one of the English department's three locations, will be part of the humanities center.