While special concentrators seem to unanimously praise the department, students on the outside are more skeptical.

As a freshman, D.A. Wallach ’07 wanted to special concentrate in 20th century America. But he decided against it because the time commitment was prohibitive and he can pursue the interdisciplinary work that interests him within his current concentration, African-American Studies.

He praises the department but also says that while Foster, the head tutor, was receptive to his ideas, he “never got the impression that she was really trying to get me into [the concentration].”

Wallach also said the committee was skeptical of his wish to study his special concentration in conjunction with another student.

But Foster says these barriers are intended to filter out students not suited for special concentrations.

“If you want to do a special concentration, you have to be independent enough to enjoy the challenge of going out and making this happen,” she says, adding that she does “try to set them in the right direction.”

Malini P. Daniel ’06, who is special concentrating in biology and international policy, agrees with Foster that special concentrations require so much individual effort that they are not for everyone.

“A lot of people I know who are in special concentrations are really passionate about the fields that they’re in,” she says.

Daniel says her special concentration allows her to consider public health issues in a way that the neither the biology department, with its emphasis on lab work, nor the government or economics departments, which ignore the hard sciences, could.

THE VALLEY BELOW

Once students complete the lengthy application, which requires a statement of purpose, detailed course plan, and three to four recommendations, the committee’s acceptance rate is high.

“By the time the student has jumped through all those hoops and generally speaking been coached and assisted and informed all through this process...it would just seem to go without saying that they’d be on the right track,” says Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures Julie A. Buckler, who took over as special concentrations committee chair this fall.

Buckler says that the committee does not want to turn down students who cannot pursue their desired course of study in the existing departments, though she does emphasize that the committee does not approve applications for pre-professional work, such as a pre-law concentration.

But McGregor, whose interactive information design concentration proposal was only accepted on her third try, criticizes the application process.

She says that because the committee only meets twice a year to discuss applicants, students are left in limbo, unsure which classes to take.