"This means six or seven more electives...than in some concentrations—enough, if one wanted, to undertake what would be almost a double concentration," Burgard says.

"We were able to make this change without sacrificing too much," he adds. Mainly, we eliminated the category of 'related courses,' deciding that our students should have room for electives instead. Of course, some depth of study is sacrificed..., but for what we consider a worthy goal."

According to Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France Susan R. Suleiman, the RLL Department has reduced required courses in both the honors and non-honors tracks by two courses, from 16 and 14, respectively, to 14 and 12.

"We have eliminated the 'related courses' requirement, keeping everything else the same," Suleiman says. "This will allow students who want a 'deeper' knowledge to pursue it via more RLL or related courses..., but will also allow greater flexibility in electives for those students who prefer a broader coverage in their undergraduate years."

Machinist says the NELC Department may follow the lead of RLL and GLL, reducing concentration requirements by one course from 13 to 12 for non-honors and 14 to 13 for honors.

Administrators say they hope students will appreciate the increased flexibility in some concentrations.John Paul Rollert `00, chair of the Undergraduate Council's Student Affairs Committee and a member of the Committee for Undergraduate Education, lauds the efforts to reduce concentration requirements.

"I think it's a great idea," Rollert says. "To me, an elemental part of any liberal arts education is exploring different areas of study. As it stands now in a lot of concentrations, that is not a lot of choice you have."