<p>Hey everyone,
I was just wondering how Stanford's interdisciplinary humanities major, or perhaps simply their philosophy and history departments, stack up against those of other comparable schools (like HYP) around the country. Are the faculty in these departments involved at an undergraduate level at Stanford, or is more emphasis placed on graduate students?
Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Any takers?</p>
<p>as a prospective history major myself, i can only tell you my impression of the history department:</p>
<p>during new student orientation, i went to the political science and the history department open houses. the political science one consisted of peer advisors and was pretty helpful, but the history department one had 7 full professors plus awesome food...when i got there, there was only 1 other girl and so i was able to converse one on one with full/associate professors about the history major. i also went to the history department halloween party, which was the only one i heard about and thus was open to frosh, even tho other departments probably also had halloween parties...i got a free t-shirt and a free lunch while, again, talking to full professors about research opportunities, the classes, and the major and anything else i wanted to discuss. i personally feel that it is a very intimate and undergraduate-involved major.</p>
<p>Stanford's history department is SUPERB, from my experience as a student.</p>
<p>That's awesome! I'm so excited! Can anyone tell me about their experience with the classics department?</p>
<p>Hmm... I have two friends who are happy Classics majors... I'll ask them if they have anything to say.</p>
<p>Technically, I'm declared Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities. I love our department. It is very small. They give you so much attention. My advisor Helen Brooks is also the Director of the Humanities program. One of my friends who was in the Honors Humanities program got into Stanford MD/PhD program, which is quite a feat because only around 20 or so students in the nation get into it. The classes are amazing and very diverse to fit your interest. </p>
<p>Every InterDisHum major has to take a class called the Core Colloquium with Brooks. We read Hamlet and we analyze it using different literary theories: psychoanalytic, deconstruction, reception, new historicism, feminist, etc.</p>
<p>Omg. I'm dying of longing and envy.</p>
<p>Can any of you comment on the strength of the English Department at Stanford? DD is considering majoring in English. Also, is it possible and realistic to double major in English and History? Any comments would be appreciated.</p>
<p>MSMDAD, the English Department at Stanford is excellent from my experience with it. Professors are very accessible, many classes to choose from, major seems to be undergraduate-focused, and best of all, the TA's are actually...good. </p>
<p>Professors to look out for include Nicholas Jenkins, Eavan Boland, Seth Lerer, and a Shakes guy named Orgel. </p>
<p>English is a 60-unit major, if I recall correctly, 12 classes, and History is 58 units, 12 classes. That's 24 classes. Say a student takes 3.5 classes a quarter for 12 quarters = 40 classes. There's also some interesting interdisciplinary programs in both departments ("History, Literature and the Arts," "English with an Interdisciplinary Emphasis") which your daughter might want to look at. So yes, it's quite doable. </p>
<p>I know several students who are doing the "poles of the humanities."</p>
<p>zephyr, thank you for your reply. DD is really looking forward to Stanford!</p>
<p>Wow! The interdisciplinary programs seem incredibly interesting. I'm really looking forward to September! :)</p>