What determines the number of fields offered, and when they are offered?
The program offers six fields. This number represents a compromise between the need to maximize the choices available to the student (the more fields the better) and the need to make sure that students are not spread too thinly across fields, making each class too small to be viable (the fewer fields the better in this regard). During each year the department asks the preferences of the first-year students as to what fields they would like to take in their second year, and courses are scheduled based on these preferences. It is possible that there might be only one student interested in a particular field in a particular year, in which case that field would not be offered (though the student might work something out with a professor regarding an independent study course in that field). Make sure you make your field preferences known to the department chair-you don’t have to wait until your preferences are asked for!
