"There's a lot of scary things that loom out, and that's intimidating to everyone," says J. Michael Friedman '97, a member of the History and Literature Student-Faculty Committee.

Janice Thaddeus, the director of studies for the History and Literature program, suggests that one reason for the drop in enrollment could be the change in requirements during the 1990-91 academic year.

According to Thaddeus, the requirements in the America field of the concentration were tightened and a foreign literature requirement added.

"We knew that that would mean that there would be a drop," Thaddeus says.

Buell agrees that since the foreign language requirement in history and literature goes beyond that required of all College students, enrolling in history and literature necessitates a strong background and interest in the humanities.

Indeed, Sandra T. Goldmark '97, another member of the student-faculty committee, says that the additional course requirements could be a deterrent.

"I think that there's a lot of requirements and it's pretty daunting, especially the foreign language requirement," Goldmark says.

"Because of such stringent requirements you have to really love both fields," she says.

Application Process

Concentrator Andrew L. Ellner '97 suggests that meeting the entrance requirements for potential concentrators could be contributing to the falling numbers.

"The fact that you have to apply might scare some people away," Ellner says.

But not all concentrators agree that having to apply is a factor in the decreasing enrollments.

"The admissions process is, frankly, very simple," says Jeremy D. Fiebert '97. "If that were the case, there would be drops in other application concentrations."

But that is clearly not the case.

The history and science program, another honors-only concentration which requires an application, has seen its enrollment rise from 77 in 1990 to 120 in 1994, and has continued to rise since then.