Dozens of new offerings fill the Annenberg-laden 1996-97 course catalog. But students shopping for courses next week may be disappointed--many of them have limited enrollments.

Civil war historian/baseball guru William E. Gienapp's seminar on the American pastime? Maximum enrollment: 20. Newly-recruited North-western University professor Jane Mansbridge's class on race, gender and politics? Just 15.

Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney's two creative writing classes? You guessed it--15. And you have to submit a writing sample.

Still, students seeking the perfect course this semester have plenty of options--despite U.S. News & World Report's recent dissing of America's oldest college.

There are 44 new courses in the Department of English and American Literature and Language, including English 177s: "The Literature of California" and English 90uy: "Asian American Literature."

Their enrollment is limited, but three new introductory offerings in the English Department are open to all comers. English 11a, 11b and 11c all focus on American literature, forsaking English 10a and 10b's emphasis on British writers.

Future corporate lawyers can flock to Economics 1660: "Law and Economics," taught by Steven M. Shavell, professor of law and economics. Barring a shortage of teaching fellows, Shavell says he'll take all comers.

The course will analyze property, contract, tort and criminal law, as well as the decision to sue, from an economic perspective that examines how legal rules affect behavior, Shavell said.

"After all, the legal system is omnipresent. You can't look at the newspaper or watch TV without hearing about some legal action, whether it's a dramatic case like the one involving O.J. Simpson, or an insider trading infraction, or a class action against the cigarette industry, or an oil spill," he said.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., DuBois professor of the humanities, is teaching a new course that focuses on the autobiography within the African-American literary tradition.

Just in time for the presidential election, Assistant Professor of Government and Social Studies Pratap Mehta and Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France Stanley H. Hoffmann are reviving Historical Study A-17: "Modern Political Ideologies" after a four-year hiatus.

This course, which drew 250 students in 1992, covers major political philosophy concepts in a historical context, examining the effects of those ideas on political movements.

With 300-page weekly reading assignments, Mehta said the course is a good introduction for concentrators in government, social studies or history.

Public policy wonks should also check out Social Analysis 54: "American Society and Public Policy," taught by past Clinton advisor Theda Skocpol, professor of government and sociology, and Mary C. Waters, professor of government.

Mansbridge said her seminar, "Representing Gender, Race and Class" will consider "Why we think, as we sometimes do, that women ought to represent women and men should represent men and a member of the middle class should represent the middle class."

Engineering has made it to the Core for the first time, thanks to McKay Professor of Applied Physics Frans A. Spaepen, who's teaching Science A-33: "The Architecture of Condensed Matter." His class will emphasize the scientific aspect of materials and their specific industrial applications.

Winning the Lotto

The odds are not good, but anyone surviving this semester's several lotteries may land a veritable jackpot.

History 1653: "Baseball and American Society, 1840-1996," taught by Gienapp, is one of about 20 new classes in the History Department.

When it was offered as a freshman seminar two years ago, hundreds applied. The losers will now have another chance.

"I've always been interested in sports in American culture, and baseball has the longest history of any sport in the United States," Gienapp said of the course.

Heaney, who's returning from a one-year leave, will again offer English Rbr: "The Practice of Poetry I" and English Sbr: "The Practice of Poetry II." But the Bolyston professor of rhetoric and oratory's class should draw more students, now that he's reached international acclaim.

Cross-Registration and Spring Options

There's nothing keeping students from cross-registering in K-School courses, including "Press, Politics and Public Policy."

The course, co-taught by Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy Marvin Kalb and newly-appointed Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press Thomas Patterson, examines the polemic power of the media in shaping public policy.

Retiring Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) will teach "Creating Legislation: Congress and the Press." It'll draw on the three-term senator's political career, including his oft-controversial encounters with the media. It meets this semester.

And there's William Julius Wilson, the former chair of the University of Chicago's sociology department, who is Harvard's latest addition to its star-studded Afro-American Studies Department.

The urban studies expert's classes, Afro-American Studies 196: "Sociological Perspectives on Racial Inequality in America," and Afro-American Studies 197: "Race, Class and Poverty in Urban America," are offered jointly with the Kennedy School this spring.

Enrollment, of course, is limited.