Word: j-term
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Experience at other colleges has shown that a J-Term is only successful where there is strong interest and desire among the faculty teaching the seminars, and we are by no means convinced that the so-far lukewarm response from members of the Harvard Faculty can be surmounted. To be fair, there are members of the Faculty who are thrilled with the prospect of new opportunities for developing small, dynamic and engaging courses—the kinds of pedagogical endeavors which are sometimes precluded by the traditional semester format. But a handful of professors will not fill a catalogue...
...further disheartened to learn that their favorite members of the Faculty will be teaching term-time courses even less. Sure, students will have the opportunity to apply for a seat in J-Term seminars four times more selective than the most popular of freshman seminars, but this is a dubious fair trade for the student body. Before Harvard loosens up term-time teaching requirements for the sake of making J-Term viable, we vehemently urge adequate consideration of its negative impact on the majority of undergraduates...
...addition to Harvard-specific Faculty reluctance, J-Terms everywhere have been under fire recently because many of them simply fail to strike the right balance. At issue is the level of academic rigor. If it is too high, the goal of reducing student stress—presumably part of the rationale for moving exams before break—will inevitably be undermined. With required J-Term courses, January risks becoming a time when a school full of overachievers feels compelled to rush through remaining requirements. More likely, however, if standards are too low and courses are offered only...
...echo faculties at many other schools with J-Terms of their own. Williams College, for example, has decided to change to a graded J-term because their faculty feared students were not taking the pass/fail J-term seriously. And although some of the opportunities being discussed do sound appealing, we must admit that with term-time requirements what they are, students will likely view J-Term as an extension of winter break—rather than an addition to the academic year—and treat it accordingly...
...both Faculty and students are actually excited about forgoing additional vacation to take a month-long course. It does not matter how interdisciplinary or unusual a seminar is, if everybody’s time is better spent taking the month of January off for rest and recovery, instituting a J-Term for the benefit of a few—and to the chagrin of many—is simply foolish...