A generation later, in the wake of the tumultuous 1960s, advances in research and a growing dissatisfaction with the Gen Ed system—which many felt no longer provided an adequate educational foundation for students—then-Dean of the Faculty Henry A. Rosovsky called upon professors to once again look closely at the Harvard curriculum.

And in the fall of 2001, at the outset of the new millennium, University President Lawrence H. Summers took Harvard’s helm and made improving undergraduate education one of his top priorities.

Soon after he began his tenure, he met with top Faculty administrators to discuss major changes to the undergraduate academic program—initiating the third curricular review in less than a century. He and Kirby have made strengthening the sciences and preparing students to be citizens of an increasingly interconnected world chief among Harvard’s responsibilities for this generation.

But whether this latest review will lead to changes as vast as its predecessors’ remains to be seen.

“I have no idea if the outcome is going to be radical change or minor change,” says Dillon Professor of International Affairs Lisa L. Martin, co-chair of the committee charged with examining the overall academic experience at the College.

“I worry that it won’t be dramatic enough, that the ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ policy will prevail,” notes Reisinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures William Mills Todd III, former dean of undergraduate education. “There needs to be some changes, beyond fine-tuning.”

Faces of the Review

The duties of this curricular review have been split among four main committees, each of which includes one administrator, two chairs, two undergraduates, one graduate student and six Faculty members.

Each of the curricular review committees—Concentrations, Pedagogy, General Education and Overall Academic Experience—will be charged with examining and analyzing a different area or aspect of the undergraduate academic experience, according to Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education Jeffrey Wolcowitz.

For example, the committee to examine concentrations, co-chaired by Professor of Economics Lawrence F. Katz and Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures Diana Sorensen, will break down and debate the purpose and structure of the concentrations. Members will discuss such issues as joint concentrations, concentration requirements and the role of tutorials.

The Pedagogy committee will examine ways of teaching. They will scrutinize what methods are effective in the undergraduate classroom, as well as more general questions about the learning process. The Pedagogy chairs are Jones Professor of American Studies Lizabeth Cohen and Cabot Professor of Biology Richard M. Losick.

Cohen said a focus of her committee will be issues of scheduling.

“We’re going to be looking at the calendar,” says Cohen. “Do we have reading periods? Do we have exams before Christmas?”

Summers and Kirby have both expressed an interest in modifying the calendar, according to University sources.

Another committee—the General Education group—will take a broad look at the mechanisms of the Harvard undergraduate education, including such controversial issues as what to do with the Core and how to make sure students receive an education that is relevant, appropriate and complete.