Rosenberg asked that the committee members put thought into a more philosophical question as well—what it is that Harvard, at the end of the day, aims to deliver.

“What is the promise Harvard makes to its students?” he asked. “We’re all paying $35,000 a year, guaranteed nothing.”

The discussion went on to touch upon a number of other aspects of the curriculum, from the role of concentrations in a Harvard education, to the theory behind general education, to what class sizes best ensure effective learning experiences.

Midway through the talk, students from the review decided to try to bring the conversation to a wider audience. Grabbing boxes of pizza, they set off for the House common rooms where they knew they would find crowds watching the baseball game.

These efforts were met with success, said HPU Chair Daniel A. Dunay ’06, who ventured out to Lowell House and ended up conducting a discussion and debate with a group of students in the House courtyard.

“They really gave us a lot of insight into their thoughts,” Dunay said. “It was first on the Core, then on the nature of the whole lecture system, then on the whole ideology of the school.”

Dunay added that other members of the curricular review committees and HPU had visited common spaces in Leverett, Quincy and Kirkland Houses and had similar discussions with clusters of students there. He said the two groups would almost certainly conduct more discussions in that format—“bringing the pizza to the people, not forcing people to come to the pizza.”

Students on the committees said they were pleased with the discussion and that they came away from the talk with much to think about.

“Any input we get from any students is helpful,” said Zachary Podolsky ’04, a member of the committee charged with evaluating the overall academic experience.

“In some sense, a smaller group has its advantages. You can get more in-depth on issues,” added Podolsky, who is also a Crimson editor.

“We got a lot out of it,” said Colette Shen ’04, who is on the committee to study concentrations. “I think the people who came really cared about the issues.”

—Staff writer Laura L. Krug can be reached at krug@fas.harvard.edu.