Then-Associate Dean of the College Jeffrey Wolcowitz, who helped draft the recommendations, wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson last spring that he recognized the report’s lack of “a guiding philosophy of general education on the order of ‘general education in a free society’ in 1945, or even the Core’s ‘approaches to knowledge.’”

As administrators, faculty, and students left for the summer, it was clear that significant decision-making was needed in the coming semesters.

A FOUL SHOT?

At the start of the 2004-05 academic year, Kirby announced plans to have curricular review proposals voted on by the Faculty this spring, launching six new committees to narrow the focus of the review on issues such as the January Term and reform of Expository Writing.

The Committee on General Education, which is headed by Kirby himself, with Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 and Summers sitting in ex officio, finished its report in February, hoping to present its findings to the Faculty for a vote, as the other committees continued their work.

But since the final draft of the General Education report was presented to the Faculty Council in early March, some faculty have complained that the ten-page report offers only a vague sketch of the complicated reforms that need to be made.

Professors identified several target areas for clarification, most notably the interdisciplinary Harvard College Courses intended to help replace the Core.

While student surveys have revealed the demand for smaller courses, Harvard College Courses would be large, possibly team-taught lectures, complimented by smaller seminars.

The report simply states that each Harvard College Course include “two hour-long general sessions and a two-hour associated seminar.”

Many faculty say the report’s open-ended rhetoric fails to address basic concerns the review was meant to solve.

“We don’t have any hard information on what [general education at Harvard] is going to be like.” says Higginson Professor of History Philip A. Kuhn ’54, who also chairs the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department.

“The view [of the Faculty Council] seemed to be that there was some significnt work to be done,” says Mendelsohn.

PACE YOURSELF

By the end of March, Kirby conceded that his initial schedule was unrealistic and postponed the public release of the final General Education report so that it could be further reviewed.

“The review has been performed much too hastily,” said Weary Professor of German and Comparative Literature Judith L. Ryan, a Council member. “You can’t do a thorough review from top to bottom...in two scant years.”