• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Professor Harding helps proctor the 8 a.m. Economics 1 midterm on Wednesday.

Concerns have arisen about the substance of the international development studies major – being referred to as a “joke” and a “watered-down” major by one professor – and future plans for the major are under debate.

Some faculty members questioned the effectiveness of the major as the Academic Senate reviewed changes that were made to IDS major requirements, at their meeting last Friday.

But professors and students directly involved with the major say it is a worthwhile field of study with a strong future.

IDS economics requirements were reduced last year due to lack of course availability, and some professors at the meeting raised concern as to whether the major is rigorous enough.

“The possible cost of interdisciplinary programs is that students may not be able to study the fundamental tools of any single discipline in as much depth as in a single major,” said economics Professor Lee Ohanian.

But some faculty members maintain lowering IDS economics requirements was necessary.

Reduced economics requirements do not negatively affect the quality of IDS majors, said Geoffrey Garrett, dean and vice provost of the UCLA International Institute.

“Demands on the economics department are immense. I believe we have worked out a good way for IDS students to gain necessary background in the discipline of economics without placing undue burdens on the department,” he said.

One professor said the required IDS course that he teaches is very difficult.

“I challenged students to think outside of box and certainly outside of factoid approach, but by far the majority of the students got it,” said Professor Andrew Apter, who teaches IDS 100A.

The IDS major was designed to give students a broad knowledge of many topics and therefore cannot be as focused as other majors, said Undergraduate Council Chairman Robert Frank.

“Someone can look at it from one area of study and say it is watered-down, but the IDS program is by nature interdisciplinary and will contain multiple subject areas because that is what it intends to do,” Frank said.

Some students believe the major is as worthwhile as students want to make it.

“One who is interested in making (the IDS major) easy can carefully select classes that are not rigorous or academically demanding. However, it is also possible to form a curriculum full of classes that make the major as demanding as any other,” said fourth-year IDS student Kopavi Kinnaird.

The economics department usually houses about 1,000 students every year, but currently, there are around 3,000 students, Ohanian said.

Some professors say the number of economics students makes it difficult to accommodate non-economics students.

“IDS students primarily take economics courses for non-majors. However, due to economics faculty shortages, we haven’t been able to offer non-major courses very frequently,” Ohanian said.

The economics department only offered non-major courses during the summer of 2003, but it hopes to offer more in the future, he added.

A cap on the number of IDS students was suggested at the meeting by Judith Smith, vice provost of undergraduate education.

A cap would ensure IDS quality maintenance and would decrease pressure on resources of other departments, especially with recently proposed education budget cuts, Smith said.

Enrollment in the IDS major has grown from 294 students in spring quarter of 2002 to 335 in fall quarter of 2003.

But growth does not indicate the major should be capped, said other professors.

“It’s a really popular major and is serving student needs and should be allowed to grow because it is becoming evermore important for students to know about the developing world,” said IDS program chairman Michael Ross.

Ross also said he does not think budget cuts will affect the IDS program more than any other department.

Some IDS students said they have avoided the difficulty of enrolling in economics courses by taking substitute courses.

Fourth-year IDS student Caitlin McShane said she took a geography course, which fulfills the major’s economics requirements, to avoid economics classes.

To enroll in economics courses, IDS students compete with economics students who say it is difficult even for them to enroll.

“I’ve definitely had trouble getting in some classes because I check out how good professors are on bruinwalk.com,” said fourth-year business economics student Kia Hamadani.

“If you want convenient class times with well-liked professors, then it’s hard (to enroll),” he added.

With reports from Colleen Honigsberg, Bruin reporter.