For many years at the turn of the century, all of Harvard's undergraduates concentrated in history and literature.

President A. Lawrence Lowell founded history and literature as Harvard's first and only concentration in 1906, as an alternative to the College's "elective system" of education.

According to the 1995-1996 Handbook for Students, concentrating in history and literature "is a demanding and at times frustrating enterprise, but can be immensely rewarding as well."

Since 1988, however, it seems that Harvard students may be finding the study of history and literature more frustrating than rewarding.

Although current concentrators have almost nothing but praise for the program, history and literature enrollments have decreased more than 36 percent in the last five years.

The all-honors concentration, which requires students to apply for admission in the spring of their first year, has dropped from 247 students in November 1990 to 157 this fall, according to the handbook.

The program is not alone, though. The decrease in enrollments may be indicative of a general trend away from the humanities and toward the hard sciences.

"It's part and parcel of the pendulum swing we've been noticing in the past couple of years away from the humanities and towards the more quantitative fields," says Dean of Undergraduate Education Lawrence Buell, who is also a professor of English and American literature and language.

"History and literature can find itself affected by the swing in a double sort of way," Buell says.

English Department enrollments have decreased from 426 in 1990 to 350 in 1994. By contrast, biochemical sciences enrollments have increased from 195 to 353 over the same period of time.

Kyle C. Wong '99-'98, an advanced standing student who plans to concentrate in history and literature, suggests that students' career aspirations may be leading them away from the humanities.

"A lot of jobs now are very science-oriented and the humanities are being neglected," he says.

Tough Requirements

In addition to the general trend toward the sciences, students and faculty in the history and literature program offer other explanations for the drop.

The concentration requires students to focus their studies on a single country or a limited period of time in several countries. The rigorous academic requirements include a sophomore essay, a junior essay, a junior general exam, a senior thesis and a senior oral exam.