But the majority of last night’s debate did not take place between students and faculty—instead, it was the professors who most often disagreed with each other.

While Dominquez said that the time has come to revisit the fundamental questions justifying Harvard’s curricular program, he said he does not think the Core should be completely dismantled.

“This design is better than the alternatives of which I am well aware,” he said.

Others were more critical, questioning the whole rationale behind the Core.

“I believe the modes of thought philosophy behind the Core is fundamentally flawed,” Engell said.

He said that the content of a particular Core class inevitably determines how the class should be taught—more so than the general “approaches to knowledge” represented by the different areas of the Core.

Engell also complained that the differences between current subsections has become increasingly blurred.

“I plead guilty to not being able to tell the difference between Historical Studies A and B,” he said.

And Tatar who had originally said that the idea of “abolishing” the Core made her anxious, said that as the evening progressed the number of arguments raised against the Core led her to question whether it could be saved.

“I wonder whether it could be tweaked or whether it should be overhauled,” she said.

But the majority present, including Gross, did not agree.

“I am not talking about abolishing the Core and I don’t think Dean [of Faculty William C.] Kirby is either,” he said.

And while this panel—the first in an ongoing series of curricular review—focused solely on the Core, Gross reminded the audience that there are other aspects of the curriculum deserve as much scrutiny.

“I personally think concentration requirements are more restrictive than those of the Core,” he said.

Broader concerns about Harvard’s current curriculum, in addition to ongoing questions about the vitality of the Core, will be addressed in a second symposium next Thursday.

At this time, Dean of Yale College Richard Brodhead, Dean of the College at Brown University Paul Armstrong and Miller Professor of Jewish History at Columbia Michael Stanislawski ’73 will speak about curricular models at their institutions.

—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached at vascell@fas.harvard.edu