welcome class of 2020! Wednesday april 20, 2016 vol. cxl no. 51
Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } M A J O R D E C L A R AT I O N S
ACADEMICS
History largest within humanities By Caroline Lippman staff writer
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 See HUMANITIES page 3
ACADEMICS
ACADEMICS
COS, NEU see growth in number of concentrators
Social Sciences majors see decrease in concentrators
By Claire Lee staff writer
The computer science department will have new 41 AB concentrators in addition to 121 BSE concentrators from the Class of 2018, compared to 28 AB concentrators and 102 BSE concentrators the previous year. Chair of the Computer Science Department Jennifer Rexford said that this massive increase in AB COS majors is because computer science is universal, transforming our economy and rapidly becoming a crucial skill on the job market, far beyond information technology companies. “The students see all this — the intellectual excitement, the opportunity to effect change in the world and the great professional opportunities — and are voting with their feet,” Rexford
said. “The increase in computer science majors and computer science course enrollments, is a national trend, not unique to Princeton,” she added. Rexford also stated that the curriculum in the computer science department is flexible, with a range of upper-level departmental courses and relatively few prerequisites. She said the department also has a vibrant student culture, with various student groups, informal meetings and hackathons. Neuroscience departmental representative Asif Ghazanfar said that 33 students declared neuroscience as their concentration. Last year, which marked the first year of the program, saw 19 students declare neuroscience. The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology experienced a decline in the number
of concentrators. 45 students from the Class of 2018 declared a major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, compared to 50 from the Class of 2017 and 61 from the Class of 2016. Meredith Mihalopoulos ’18 recently declared a major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She said that she came to Princeton knowing she wanted to pursue the premedical track, so she wanted to choose a major that would allow her flexibility in her schedule so she could fulfill her pre-med requirements and also pursue other classes that were of interest to her. “I took EEB 211 this fall and I thought it was a really nice way to be introduced to the department,” Mihalopoulos said. “It [the class] definitely solidified my interest that this was the major that I wanted to pursue,” See STEM page 2
By William Liu contributor
As of Wednesday, 325 students declared concentrations in the social sciences, a drop from last year’s 363. Economics remain the largest department within social sciences, with around 114 new concentrators as of Wednesday, according to unofficial numbers from University College Facebook. This is a decrease from last year’s 130. “Economics is an attractive major that provides a strong foundation in both theory and empirical analysis that can be used to understand a variety of socially important phenomena,” Economics professor Smita Brunnermeier said. “Since our training is both structured and flexible, our majors can either directly begin careers in banking, finance, consulting, gov-
ernment and industry or pursue further studies in diverse fields such as economics, finance, law, public policy, business and medicine.” Kira Keating ’18, who declared economics, said she finds the balance of quantitative and qualitative aspects within the discipline intriguing. “I’m concentrating in econ because I like how intuitive it is – the way models and theories make sense,” Melissa Reed ’18, another new economics concentrator, explained. She also noted her interest in studying the way that individuals’ thinking and decision-making processes interplay with these models. The number of students concentrating in the Wilson School is 104 compared to last year’s 109, according to an estimate obtained from University College Facebook. The Wilson School See SOCIAL page 5
LECTURE
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka discusses diversity, religion contributor
Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel laureate, discussed the pillars of human spirituality and diversity in religion in a lecture Tuesday. Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1986. His work often tells stories of democracy, government, religion and tensions
around tradition and progress. English professor Simon Gikandi, introduced Soyinka as the “creator of African library” as well as the one who represents a symbol of a towering tree with an invaluable reference. Gikandi also noted how Soyinka was an activist and a writer who “intervened in the most troubled areas of
Africa in the late 20th century” as well as represented “its desire and more importantly voiced its frustration.” Soyinka explained to the audiences the meaning behind the titles of his lectures. Soyinka connected his work to the four hundred notation of Shakespeare and said that it was most gratifying for him to prepare this type of contribution.
He noted that the “sweet uses of diversity” that he acknowledges in his work can be found rooted in Shakespeare’s quote “sweet are the uses of adversity.” “The seizure of the human condition is now moving towards its uplifting desire,” he said. He added that nothing has produced as much diversity as the phenomenon of re-
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Columnists Azza Cohen and Sam Parsons take opposite views on the referendum for disciplinary reform, and guest columnist Alice Mar-Abe discusses the referendum to divest from private prisons. PAGE 6
4:30 p.m.: Former governor of Antioquia, Colombia and former mayor of Medellín Sergio Fajardo will deliver a lecture. Robertson Hall.
ligion, which he called the “schism of schism.” “Religion is the work of imagination,” Soyinka said. He noted the spiritual constructs that spiritual diversity have imposed on the world as he argued that diversity is the lesson of the millennia and the product of schisms. The talk highlighted these entities and themes of “corSee LECTURE page 4
WEATHER
By Amber Park
HIGH
70˚
LOW
42˚
Sunny. chance of rain:
0 percent