Preliminary plans are underway to build an international studies center to incorporate existing international research institutes and the Department of Government.

According to Philip J. Parsons, director of planning for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, conceptual drawings for the complex, which will be located near Coolidge Hall on Cambridge Street, have been made, but an architect has not yet been secured.

President Neil L. Rudenstine has repeatedly expressed his support for the project, calling it one of his top goals for this academic year.

Bringing together institutes like the Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for International Affairs (CFIA), the Center for European Affairs, the Davis Center for Russian Studies and the government department, the new center is designed to increase interaction between students and scholars in international studies.

Parsons said the center fits closely with two other major construction efforts of the University's five-year capital campaign--the Memorial Hall project and the Barker Center for the Humanities--both of which are designed to serve as central gathering places for segments of the community.

The three projects also have similar costs: The international center, like the two earlier efforts, is expected to cost about $25 million.

The project will likely focus on the area around Coolidge Hall, which now houses the CFIA, and will include renovations and additions to existing space, said CFIA Executive Director Anne D. Emerson.

"All of the centers in the building need better seminar rooms," Emerson said. "You could suffocate in all of them. We also need a bigger hall for distinguished visitors. There are many things we could do better if we had better facilities."

While the specifics of who will go where in the new building have not yet been worked out, Emerson said her sense is that the government department will take up the lion's share of the space.

The government department now shares the Littauer Center with the Department of Economics, which has forced both departments to split up in recent years as they have grown.

According to Professor of Government Kenneth A. Shepsle, chair of the government department, his department has been fragmented for the last quarter-century. Its tutorial office, for example, is now on Church Street.

The economics department has also faced space constraints, said Laura A. Ervin, director of administration for the department.

Offices for Social Analysis 10: "Principles of Economics," Harvard's largest course, and the department's tutorial program have moved to 20 Garden Street.

Despite the attention the plan has received from top administrators, much work needs to be done before it can be implemented, Parsons said. With the concept plan drawn, the idea must now be presented to alumni whose donations will fund the project, he said.

While Shepsle said he is somewhat reluctant to move from Littauer, he said the gains outweigh the inconveniences of the project.

"The Government Department is a big tent," Shepsle said. "Some of us are closely tied with economics; others work with international studies. Some will be happier campers than others, but all will be happy to be together.