Within humanities, history remains largest major

Around 250 students from the Class of 2018 declared concentrations in the humanities this year, compared to 284 last year from the Class of 2017.

The humanities include African American Studies, Architecture, Art and Archaeology, Classics, Comparative Literature, East Asian Studies, English, French and Italian, German, History, Music, Near Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Religion, Slavic Languages and Literatures and Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures.

The History Department remains the largest in the humanities. According to departmental representative Yair Mintzker, the program is expecting around 80 history majors from the Class of 2018. Mintzker noted that this number is within the past decade’s range of 75 to 90 concentrators per year.

“We are happy with these numbers and are very proud of the overall excellent quality of these students,” Mintzker said.

"I immediately fell in love with the department when I went through the course listings — there was basically a course on anything you could want. The professors are also not only the best in the world but extremely accessible and willing to engage with students in a dialogue — it’s a really dynamic department that wants to incorporate [its] students, not just lecture them," Noah Mayerson ’18 said, explaining why he declared history.

The English Department received 40 sign-ins from the Class of 2018, an unofficial number gathered from the Residential College Facebook.

Director of Undergraduate Studies in English Tamsen Wolff indicated via email that the department expects 45-50 new majors this year.

Jessica Reed ’18, who just declared English, said that she began as an intended physics major and then considered other options, such as the Wilson School or the international relations track of the Politics department. However, she noted that in thinking about her favorite classes, she had most enjoyed her work in the English department.

Reed said that it was a difficult decision, especially given the conception that majoring in English does not offer as many later opportunities as other majors. She added that speaking to the departmental representative for the English department helped her decide what to declare, especially since she could individually cater her classes in the department to pursue what she was most interested in.

“The department is really small, so I’m always going to have that individual help that I need,” she said.

Natalie Tung ’18, another English concentrator, said that she has always been most passionate about English classes and also appreciates the skills one learns as an English major. She noted that while some students may declare a concentration in the Wilson School or within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences because those majors tend to be viewed as more practical, a concentration in the English department is valuable and practical in that it teaches students to analyze texts and think critically.

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Of the foreign languages, the Spanish and Portuguese Department has the most concentrators, with between 17 to 19 students according to departmental representative Germán Labrador Mendéz. He noted that this number represents an ascending trend in the department in the last few years.

“The remarkable augmentation in the number of majors goes against general tendencies in the humanities. However, it is consistent with other growing departmental numbers, increase in the number of certificates, number of students, numbers of students enrolled in advanced courses, numbers of students in summer programs abroad,” he stated.

He also explained that the department reflects one of the most diverse groups of students on campus in terms of cultural, ethnic, gender and racial diversity, which he attributes to growing internationalization, diversity and the increased presence of Spanish language and culture in the United States.

The French and Italian Department has 10 new students, which marks an increase from seven last year and five in 2014, according to departmental representative Efthymia Rentzou. Rentzou noted that the department has made a collective effort to increase the number of concentrators and is happy to have done so.

Slavic Languages and Literatures had five students declare this year, compared to three last year, according to undergraduate program contact Frances Carrol.

The Music Department has six new concentrators, according to departmental representative Donnacha Dennehy. There were seven last year.

Philosophy Departmental Representative John Burgess said that as of press time, the program had 21 concentrators, similar in number to the Class of 2016, which is about to graduate 23 concentrators. He noted that last year’s class of 37 majors was unprecedented in the 40 years that he has been at the University.

The Near Eastern Studies Department has eight concentrators this year, the same as last year, according to departmental representative Satyel Larson.

The School of Architecture has 10 concentrators, as opposed to nine last year, according to department manager Frances Yuan.

Art and Archaeology has 19 new concentrators, according to department representative Bridget Alsdorf. While it is a decrease compared to last year's 22, Alsdorf noted that the numberis in line with previous years'.

According to unofficial estimates obtained from University College Facebook, the new African American Studies Department has seven concentrators; Classics has 10 concentrators, a decrease from last year's 14; Comparative Literature has 10 concentrators compared to 17 last year; East Asian Studies has four concentrators, compared to seven last year; German has two concentrators compared with last year's seven; and Religion has eight concentrators, the same as last year.