During the second semester, students will havethe option of working in a small study group or inan individual tutorial.

Students will have many topics to choose fromfor this semester, Hankins said. Topics willinclude courses in women's history, ethnicstudies, American Constitutional history andAmerican social history.

The junior tutorial, required for the honorsprogram, will be led by Professor of HistoryMichael McCormick and will emphasize researchskills.

The first semester of junior tutorial willteach undergraduates how to organize, research andwrite research papers.

Students will put these skills to the testduring the second semester, as they work in smallstudy groups to prepare a junior paper on a topicof their choice.

The emphasis on research and writing willreplace the current system of a year-long courseon a specific field led by a graduate student.

The senior year tutorial will largely remainthe same with students using their newly acquiredresearch skills to write their thesis.

The Process

The tutorial process was revamped for severalreasons, Hankins said.

A document from the educational policycommittee, chaired by Dean of the Faculty JeremyR. Knowles, that recommended increased facultyinvolvement in the tutorial system prompted a newlook at the existing program, Hankins said.

"We have new staff and people interested inbecoming more involved in the tutorial program,"Hankins said.

The department took advantage of facultymembers' willingness to participate in the programby deciding to review it.

The reassessment was also prompted by a feelingin the history department that the tutorial systemneeded to be looked at, Hankins said, because "ithad not been reviewed in five years."

According to history concentrator Cristian S.Torres '95, the department used to offer History90 classes like the tutorials in the governmentdepartment, but they were eliminated several yearsago.

The department created a number of groups toexamine different elements of the tutorial system,Hankins said.