“Anybody who wants a two-semester introductory course to economics will take Social Analysis 10,” Director of the Core Susan W. Lewis said. “There are lots and lots of students who want that.”

But despite having already fulfilled her Social Analysis requirement, Ellen S. Martinsek ’07 wrote in an e-mail that she will seriously consider taking “Globalization and Its Critics.”

“I think it’s going to be a great course, both because the topic is extremely interesting and pertinent and because the professors are experts,” Martinsek wrote. “Admittedly, since I’ve already taken Ec 10, I have slightly less incentive to take another Social Analysis Core rather than some other course, but I might end up taking it anyway.”

Unlike most Core classes, “Globalization and Its Critics” will be taught in a two-hour lecture once per week, said Lewis.

“It is very unusual for a Core class, but President Summers has a very constrained schedule,” Lewis said.

Sandel wrote that the longer classes would allow for meaningful exchanges between himself and Summers.

“The two-hour format will enable us to have sustained and lively exchanges on the political, economic, and ethical questions posed by globalization,” Sandel wrote. “Where we disagree, we will debate our differences.”

But Grace B. Colloton ’07 wrote that she feared student interaction would not lead to a positive learning environment.

“I can see it being filled with students who are just trying to argue with the professors for the sake of arguing with someone so ‘important’ and it’s really difficult to sit through classes like that for a whole semester, at least for me,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Brandon M. Terry ’05 praised Summers for reaching out to students through teaching the course.

“I think it sends a message that...he takes undergraduate education seriously and is willing to make sacrifices in order to maintain a world-class undergraduate program,” said Terry.

—Margaret W. Ho contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Alan J. Tabak can be reached at tabak@fas.harvard.edu.