The Experimental College has extended the deadline for students to apply to become leaders of Perspectives and Explorations programs for at least the next several days with coordinators searching for a few more last-minute applicants.
"We have a smaller program than we'd like," Ex College Director Robyn Gittleman said.
She said that this is not an uncommon problem. "We always extend the deadline," she said. "We never seem to have enough [courses] for the number of [first-years] who would like to join them."
Explorations and Perspective classes are led by two upperclassmen who teach and advise a group of freshmen with the help of a faculty member.
At least 250 first-year students will participate in one of these courses next year, according to Gittleman. In exchange for teaching, students receive one and a half credits.
The applications for both programs are extensive, although the Perspectives application is less involved than the Explorations one, which requires teacher and adviser recommendations, an annotated bibliography for books to be used and a 13-week syllabus for the course.
Perspectives courses involve the study of cinema, whereas Explorations classes allow for a more expansive curriculum.
"Perspectives all focus on film, film industry and critical analysis of film," Gittleman said. "With Explorations there's no general theme."
As a result, students can pick a program that matches their interests. Many students have already done so this year and have had their proposals accepted. Sophomore Maya Brakhman will be leading a Perspectives course on romantic comedies throughout time.
She said that for her, the Perspectives classes are more appealing than Explorations classes. "At this point, I don't feel like I have that much experience in any one thing, so I wouldn't feel comfortable teaching a class about it," she said. "[Perspectives] is more of an open discussion than a lecture."
Junior Michelle Paison will be running an Explorations course on the Western portrayal of Muslim identity. She found herself more drawn to the Explorations program because she feels that "with Explorations you have a lot more leeway." The prospect of teaching a Perspectives course, she said, "was limiting" because she did not want focus exclusively on film-related issues.
The chance to explore subjects in more depth has also led some students to lead an Explorations rather than a Perspectives class. "A little more work was involved ... but the class would be more in-depth," junior Evan Lichtenstein said. His class will be entitled "Media on Media."
Currently, Explorations has about 25 programs lined up, but Gittleman said that more could be accommodated. "If we had 35, we could fill them," she said.
Given the nearly unlimited range of possible topics for an Explorations course, Gittleman said that she hopes to see a few more applications in the next week.
"Anybody that has a good idea could present it and put it together as an academic course," she said.
Ex College Associate Director Howard Woolf, who works with the Perspectives program, said that he would not be surprised to see additional applications to teach Perspectives classes trickle in.
"I have a feeling a couple more people might be coming out of the woodwork," he said.
Currently, around 12 applications have been received, but there are typically 13 to 18 Perspectives classes every semester, he said.
Next year's Perspectives courses will focus on a variety of aspects of film, including Disney movies, cult films, youth representation in film, high school and college sports movies and French film.
The accepted Explorations programs include "Media on Media," "Western Portrayal of Muslim Identity," "Buffy Studies," "Behind the Headlines," "Relationships" and "The Sociology of Games: Living on the Boardwalk."
