For many Brown students, shopping period begins sometime in August, when they find that their favorite courses have been marked on the Brown Online Course Announcement with one dreaded red word: CANCELED.
Ariana Raufi '09, who was looking forward to taking PL 9: "Philosophy of East and West," said it was "a huge letdown" to learn that it had been canceled. Raufi decided to replace the course with a Middle East studies class, only to learn that it, too, had been canceled.
"I didn't even know this happened," she said.
Professor James McClain, chair of the Department of History, attributes his department's 13 cancellations to a wealth of research opportunities. "Every year one-third of our professors are trying to get money for research or a stipend to go away from the University for a semester or a year. This year, six or seven professors got outside funding" after their courses were placed in the Course Announcement Bulletin, he said.
Among the professors on leave, Professor Engin Akarli will be at the Harvard Law Institute doing research on Middle Eastern law, while Professor Elliot Gorn is taking time off to work on a fellowship from the Huntington Library in Los Angeles.
History added only four courses to replace the lost ones, according to BOCA.
According to McClain, who spent time last year researching the 20th century history of Tokyo at Keio University in Japan, "You have to travel to get to the foreign archives that are essential for research."
Though the Department of History may be an extreme example, many departments must allow professors to leave and return based on research grants and fellowships.
"Sometimes research efforts can come up quickly. In planetary geology there are NASA appointments to work around. This year (Associate Professor) Jack Mustard is working on the Mars mission that just recently had a launch. In his case we are going to try to find someone to teach the course," said Professor Warren Prell, who chairs the Department of Geology.
Geology had the third-most canceled courses for the fall semester, largely due to two unexpected retirements.
According to Philip Hopmann, chair of the Department of Political Science, PS 20: "Introduction to Comparative Politics" had to be revised after Assistant Professor Melani Cammett received a grant to be an Academy Scholar at Harvard's Academy for International and Area Studies.
University Registrar Michael Pesta blames the unpredictable nature of research opportunities and "normal human activity" for course cancellations.
"We are asking for the information from department chairs very early in December, and they are trying to do the best they can. But in that six- to seven-month period (before the Course Announcement Bulletin is released), things change," he said.
Pesta added that even if a course gets canceled, students may have other opportunities to take the class during their time at Brown. "If the professor leaves, the course gets canceled, but in many other situations, you'll find it again. There is an ebb and flow in the curriculum that is pretty constant."
Hopmann agreed that academic opportunities can be unpredictable. "A research University like Brown is a dynamic place," he said. "If you look at the courses added on BOCA, you'll see that almost as many courses that have been dropped have been added."
About 110 new classes were added after the Course Announcement was published, according to BOCA, while 95 courses were canceled. However, the bulk of the additions are in different departments than those that saw the most cancelations. Only Political Science added nearly as many courses as were cancelled.
Though the response to course cancellations differs from student to student, in the face of adversity some Brown students relish the opportunity to shop.
Evan Brown '06, an economics concentrator, had to replace the canceled IR 80, Sec. 79: "International Relations of East Asia" with IR 80, Sec. 31: "Contraband Capitalism." "I checked BOCA in the summer," Brown said. "'International Relations of East Asia' was canceled and I cried, but if 'Contraband Capitalism' turns out to be really great, maybe it turned out for the best."
Ramel Murphy '06, a political science concentrator, replaced a canceled sociology class with EN 193: "Social Entrepreneurship." Murphy is pleased that his new course shares the same community-oriented components as the canceled one, but he said small reforms to the course selection process could go a long way.
"There has to be a provision to the University policy. If they take away a course, the professors should at least direct students to similar courses on the BOCA Web site," Murphy said.
MOST CANCELED COURSES BY DEPARTMENT
History - 13Political Science - 9Comparative Literature - 6Economics - 5Geology - 5Religious Studies - 5
Source: Registrar's Office
