<p>All Harvard freshmen take expository writing. It's a writing course designed to teach not only the technical aspects of good writing but also to teach critical thinking and analysis of difficult topics. Given those goals, it's not uncommmon for professors to focus on topics of interest to them - where they can readily pose challenging questions. This is the way the course is specifically designed. I'm not sure that this means that it reflects the profs' interests more they it should. I mean who determines how much reflection of the the profs' interest is correct?</p>