The Anthropology Department may change its tutorial program next year in response to its recent phenomenal growth and the financial squeeze facing the University.
Evon Z. Vogt, chairman of the Anthropology Department, said he expected the junior tutorial program to change from its present one-on-one form to groups of two or three students. He added that most members of the Department had opposed limiting the number of concentrators.
The number of Anthropology concentrators has grown in the last two years from roughly 60 to 110, making the department the 12th largest in the University. Vogt said that the University's lack of funds will make it difficult for the Department to hire additional Faculty and staff members.
Explaining the increase in the number of concentrators, Vogt said: "People are discovering that anthropology has something to say about the world in a cross-cultural way." He added that the field has gotten "good press" especially through the work of scholars like Margaret Mead and Claude Levi-Strauss.
He said that a "lively program" with possibilities for field work attracts undergraduates to the Department. Vogt said he had taken many students with him on field trips to Mexico and added, "I enjoy teaching undergraduates."
He said he anticipated no change in the Department's structure for next year. Rumors that the Social Anthropology division would separate from the rest of the Department developed in the wake of the split in the Social Relations Department.
World Consciousness
B. Lrven' De Vore, professor of Anthropology, said that the field has experienced a phenomenal growth across the country because "undergraduates are more world-conscious" and more sensitive to third world problems.
Not Heads
He added that a department's ability to grow is frequently dependent upon its ability to raise money. Departments in the social sciences find fund-raising difficult, he said, because most concentrators in the area "do not go on to become Corporation heads."
Seth Reichlin '73, a concentrator in Anthropology, said of the proposed changes: "One can easily see that the Department does have real difficulties. It is regrettable that they should have to come at a time when there is a demand for more personal education. The atmosphere in the Department is very open and I'm hopeful that it will be able to stay that way."
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