Bleeding crimson: Harvard loses the humanities. Tracking the losses in contrast to the gains in the sciences. From the editorial:

With the concentration declaration period for sophomores now over, two major trends acting in opposition stand to change the face of Harvard. Concurrent with a decline in the humanities comes a rapid expansion of applied science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, arguably detrimental to higher education, learning, and more broadly, the world.

Often lovingly referred to as a “small liberal arts college in Boston,” Harvard has historically dominated the social sciences and the humanities, even as peer institutions have emphasized computer science and engineering.

Meanwhile, courses such as Computer Science 50: “Introduction to Computer Science I” have in recent years experienced drastic increases in enrollment. Reporting by The Crimson last year revealed that from 2008 to last year, Computer Science rose from 86 concentrators in 2008 to 363 last year, and Applied Mathematics more than doubled in its count.

Additionally, English and Comparative Literature concentrator numbers have decreased significantly in their counts. Undergraduates might today be hard-pressed to find peers concentrating in these heavily humanities-centric fields.

Therein lies the troubling issue: The foundation of study which has historically made Harvard what it is is dying.

h/t Robert Townsend (@rbthisted)