Word: j-term
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...encompassing banner of the curricular review, Harvard is also asking questions regarding the kind of calendar best suited for creating educated men and women. The steering committee on the curricular review has proposed the creation of a “January term,” or “J-term,” in which students take only one class in a more relaxed atmosphere. Speaking to Kirkland House students this February, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 asked, “Does this pedagogical possibility excite people...
...should not. As Gross himself admits, it’s unclear how many students would actually find themselves in a classroom at all during the month of January. He said students could use the J-term for internships or traveling abroad, instead of taking a class. In addition, seniors could spend the time working on their theses or worrying about upcoming life in the real world. Presumably, job-hunting seniors would fill their days scouring “Help Wanted” ads and making phone calls, spending sleepless nights preparing for high-pressure interviews—not exactly...
...what of the brave few who sign up for class, despite College-encouraged opportunities to do something less academic? The very relaxed atmosphere J-term advocates tout could make it more difficult for students to focus on classwork. The culture of a J-term inherently threatens to water down the classes offered...
...example at Middlebury College, where a 36-year-old J-term is currently under scrutiny, the faculty delicately characterize the problem as “J-term culture,” which is “defined by student expectations of low workload.” Granted, this culture suits some Middlebury professors just fine; in a Jan. 26 Crimson op-ed, Middlebury professor Murray Dry endorsed his school’s winter term as “an academic change of pace...
...added that students would not necessarily be obligated to participate in the J-term all four undergraduate years, but would be allowed to opt for an extended winter break one or two times...