The Justice

In the aftermath of yesterday's release of the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee's report, many faculty and students affected by the proposals immediately began to express initial reactions to the committee's recommendations.

The committee's recommendations included making American Studies, Classical Studies and African and Afro-American Studies interdepartmental-programs instead of departments and implementing a 10-percent cut of faculty and staff across all departments, reducing the size of most Ph.D. programs.

The recommendation of converting AAAS, AMST and Classics into interdisciplinary programs-meaning the majors are still intact, but the classes will be cross-listed with other departments-was one on which committee members received the most feedback from those affected.

Dean of Arts and Sciences and Chair of the CARS committee Adam Jaffe said that the CARS committee met with the African and Afro-American Studies and Classical Studies departments last Friday and with the American Studies department yesterday to discuss the committee's recommendations. "I would say in all cases they were unhappy with the recommendations," Jaffe said.

Prof. Joyce Antler (AMST) said, "there's a difference between a program and a department. [American Studies] has been highly successful, and it's not a new program that's come into being. And I think that the rationale for making a transformational change is not convincing. We don't see the cost savings in it at all."

Prof. Wellington Nyangoni (AAAS) said he would "be extremely disappointed" if the AAAS department were converted into a program. "Programs are not equal to departments," he said.

Nathan Robinson '11, a declared AAAS major, said, "I believe the University has shown a weak commitment toward the AAAS department. I am concerned the studies of African-American issues will merge into the study of the social justices or race and gender issues generically, and I think it's very important for those of us who are genuinely interested in African or Afro-American studies that we have an intense focus on that particular subject."

Lee Marmor '10, a Classical Studies major, was one of two students who organized a Facebook group called Save the Classical Studies Department last night to "protest the recent decision to reduce the status of Classical Studies to an interdepartmental program," according to the group's Facebook page.

"It's outrageous, and universities were founded originally, basically, on the study of classics. I know they're not getting rid of this, but still, it's ridiculous," he said.

Prof. Steven Burg (POL), a member of the CARS committee, explained to the Justice Sunday that he understood the department's initial reactions.

"If somebody came to me and said, 'Steve, we're doing away with the Politics Department,' ... I'd be shocked … But if you make a strong institutional argument, if there may be benefits to me as an intellectual in terms of closer relationships with colleagues in the University with whom I can share some overlap, then there are certain benefits to be had." He added, "These are what are called 'difficult conversations.'"

Also released in the report was a recommendation to reduce the number of low-enrollment courses taught each semester.

Prof. Jonathan Sarna (NEJS), whose department has several courses that routinely draw fewer than eight people after pre-enrollment, believes these classes will be shifted to graduate classes to which some undergraduates could be invited to take the class. He explained that this could allow for some specialized classes.

"But at the same time ... we now have to realize that if there are going to be 10 percent fewer faculty and 10 percent more students, then all of us have to carry a load," Sarna said.

Another recommendation in the report is a 10-percent cut of faculty across all departments over five years.

"Certainly, these are difficult times ... This is a burden that should be shared across the University, and [we need to] find ways to continue to offer an effective curriculum with whatever attrition is necessary," Antler said.

The report also included a recommendation that would increase the variety of courses taught by each faculty member over a three-year rotation, which would, in effect, mean that each course would be offered less frequently.

Antler expressed concerns about this. "Beyond [every other year], it gets very difficult for students who might want to catch courses in their first two years or last two years, and [the courses are] just not available," she said. "[The classes] can't be so irregular that students can't plan for them."

Several faculty members declined to comment because they had not yet read the report.

Provost Marty Krauss said that she will issue a preliminary response May 4, which will be discussed at a special faculty meeting May 7. She will then issue a final report May 11.

Faculty members will begin discussing the report at this week's faculty meeting, and there are open forums scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday and Monday where Brandeis community members can provide their input to Krauss directly, according to a campuswide e-mail sent by Student Union President Jason Gray '10.

Krauss said, "I don't want to say very much now about my reactions to it because I really want to hear from the community."

Burg said Sunday, "It's not clear to me whether those recommendations will in the end find enough support in the faculty," but he added that, "I believe there are strong arguments for them."

-Hannah Kirsch, Shana D. Lebowitz, Miranda Neubauer and Daniel D. Snyder contributed reporting.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools