<p>is smith a good school for history and english?</p>
<p>In the "Returning to the question of "Why All-Women's Schools?" "-thread someone said that she left Smith partly because of the weak history department.</p>
<p>I don't know exactly what this says about each department, but last year English was the 5th largest major among seniors. History was the 7th. It may just be they're popular majors in general, regardless of the proficiency of the department.</p>
<p>thank you, that helped a lot</p>
<p>i can't tell if that last comment was sarcastic. why don't you go to the dept webpage, and see if it offers what you want? "good" and "bad" are actually pretty subjective and relative measures when it comes to academia.</p>
<p>Yes, it is a very good place to study those subjects.</p>
<p>That was me. No, Smith's history department is poor, even my major advisor (in the history) admitted so and happily wrote my recommendation for my current school which has one of the top departments in the country. If you want more info, just PM :)</p>
<p>well, i'm just saying -one professor at Smith said that Amherst doesn't have a good polisci dept, but a really intelligent Amherst student I knew liked Amherst's polisci dept b/c it takes a different approach than most in the kinds of things it studies... Don't brush off alternative views so quickly.</p>
<p>oh i'm so sorry, my earlier comment wasn't sarcastic at all! it really did help. thanks once again for all the comments</p>
<p>With history, it depends on your specialty. Smith does not, for instance, have depth in the way of Asian history from what I'm given to understand. Third-hand accounts from English majors has been uniformly good.</p>
<p>From what I saw in the catalog, TD, there's also a weakness in US History. By sheer numbers alone, the emphasis seems to be on European history. Interestingly, there are several courses in areas such as African history, Latin American history, and East Asian history. A student looking for a global outlook might be better off than one seeking a specialty within one region.</p>
<p>Of course, looking at the catalog is a superficial means of gauging a department. Everything depends on the quality of the professors themselves. TMP is obviously in a good position to judge, even though her disappointment might not be representative of other history majors. </p>
<p>As for English, I can't say, either, although the list of courses seems comprehensive. I took a quick look at the major requirements, and they are in line with what an English major should accomplish/know by graduation. An important consideration for English majors: if you decide to enter a PhD program in English after Smith, you'll need to know two foreign languages. From what I've seen, Smith's foreign language departments are excellent. </p>
<p>It's easy for us gung-ho Smith supporters to want every department at Smith to be great, but that's not realistic. Smith is best known for engineering, art (including art history), and cross-disciplinary studies. Its strengths, however, are not limited to these areas. Prospective students should definitely arrange a campus visit that includes sitting in on a couple of classes. When it comes down to making a decision, students should weigh both academics and campus "fit."</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's easy for us gung-ho Smith supporters to want every department at Smith to be great, but that's not realistic. Smith is best known for engineering, art (including art history), and cross-disciplinary studies. Its strengths, however, are not limited to these areas. Prospective students should definitely arrange a campus visit that includes sitting in on a couple of classes. When it comes down to making a decision, students should weigh both academics and campus "fit."
[/quote]
Well said MWFN. I've said that "fit" is most important when choosing a college. Please don't forget to include sciences in the areas of strength for Smith. Many of their women major in biology, as this department is very strong.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to imply that the sciences, or any other department, were not strong at Smith. I was speaking purely in the distinctive reputation of Smith as seen from the outside. For example, while Smith's biology department may be excellent, it is not seen as being head-and-shoulders above, say, Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke. Its engineering department, being the only one of its kind, does indeed give Smith bragging rights.</p>
<p>MWFN...I know you didn't mean to leave sciences out. The Engineering program has already been listed as one of the best in the nation by US News and World Report. Not that I believe all that they print, but awesome none the less.</p>
<p>Not just me.... I actually did talk with other history majors at Smith and this was our general view- too narrow and unbalanced. Sometimes it can be difficult to fill that "field" requirement with classes in your area that you really like!</p>
<p>since someone said smith doenst have a strong history department, can smithies take history course in other colleges in the pioneer valley?</p>
<p>Aside from their first semester, Smith students may take courses at any of the other Five Colleges at any time. Some, like my D, have never done so; I'm aware of some that do so every semester.</p>
<p>I think that if you read the Course Catalog you will get an idea of which areas are well represented at in the History department and which are not. The one specific complaint I remember, iirc, is about East Asian history. You really need to look at your desired area of specialization...and this is true for any college, any department.</p>
<p>Just remember- Smith's History department requires that 5 out of 11 of their courses MUST be taken at Smith. You'll also need to take a 300-level seminar in your "field" and I found those hard to come by in terms of interest. For example, Helen Horowitz teaches Women's History only in the spring (occasionally the ONLY seminar) and it's not something I'm interested in. Unless you've fallen in love with every class and professor at Smith's history department, I would plan very carefully if you're looking to take as many history classes in the 5 College area and JYA programs as you can.</p>
<p>Also, my advisor didn't tell me until late in my game that they also will accept credits from other department, especially religion, as long they hae a historical component because they know that they're being shortchanged by the administration. For example, many students take this Buddhism class by a religion professor because they wanted to learn more about India's/Southeast Asian history, not necessarily Buddhism itself. So there's some flexiblity.</p>