“The core is non-departmental, as is the freshman seminar. The more resources that are put into those, the more strain there is on the department,” he says.

Thomas himself intends to lead a seminar next year, at least partly due to his position as department head.

“I felt that as chairman of the department, I should offer one if we were, as a department, to field one,” he says. “The needs of the department just need to be kept in mind.”

Administrators say they have attempted to reconcile their desire to expand the Freshman Seminar Program with these fears in several ways—adjusting the core curriculum and drawing more seminars from smaller concentrations.

In proposals to reduce the core requirement by one course, Pedersen suggested students use the opportunity to take a freshman seminar. The proposal was ultimately approved by the Faculty.

The program has also attempted to elicit more offerings from concentrations with fewer students. Pedersen explains that instructors in these fields do not have as much pressure to teach departmental courses.

But such an arrangement could just create seminars that have little student interest—continuing the tendency of students to clump around a few offerings.

Doherty says that this potential problem could be solved if departments offer departmental credit for freshman seminars.

“Many departments are willing to count freshman seminars for concentration credit if it’s taught by a member of the department,” she says. “I think most departments will adopt that.”

Head of the Class

Lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors and full professors all offered seminars this year. With more seminars likely to be offered next year, opinions have ranged widely on who should lead them.

“I think one of the things that is nice about the program right now is that junior Faculty and Faculty and lecturers all offer seminars,” Pedersen says.

Doherty also notes advantages to having instructors from all levels.

“It could be a good way for someone who’s new to Harvard to try a course, to work up a course that could eventually become a core,” she says. “Junior faculty often find it a good place to gain teaching experience.”

However, Cuno expresses a different view from Pedersen and Doherty.