--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think at a place like Harvard, our…" description: "\"I think at a place like Harvard, our experience, I was involved with, at various stages, in trying to implement a new general education curriculum, our..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/louis-menand-8583_aptitude_i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-expe_3177434.png" --- # I think at a place like Harvard, our experience, I was… ![“I think at a place like Harvard, our experience, I was involved with, at various stages, in trying to implement a new general education curriculum, our experience was that Harvard's all about specialization, that's not just true of the professori, it's also true of a lot of the undergraduates…” quote by Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/louis-menand-8583_aptitude_i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-expe_3177434.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/louis-menand-8583_aptitude_i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-expe_3177434.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/louis-menand-8583_aptitude_i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-expe_3177434.png) > “I think at a place like Harvard, our experience, I was involved with, at various stages, in trying to implement a new general education curriculum, our experience was that Harvard's all about specialization, that's not just true of the professori, it's also true of a lot of the undergraduates, too, and they come, they kind of know what they want to do, they select it because they have a strong aptitude for something in particular.” [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Harvard emphasizes specialization, limiting broader education and interdisciplinary thinking **In simple terms:** Specialization narrows perspective Key Takeaway Encourage interdisciplinary learning Themes education specialization interdisciplinarity Mood analytical thoughtful Type essay critical When to use this quote - University curricula - student advising - career planning Key Concepts Curriculum design academic culture Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions balance depth and breadth? - What are the risks of over‑specialization? A Different Perspective Specialization can deepen expertise but hinder flexibility ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aptitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aptitude/) [Curriculum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curriculum/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [General education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/general-education/) [Specialization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/specialization/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Teachers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teachers/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Despite the hours spent debating different models of general education, the choices faculties make rarely lead to any significant difference in the cognitive development…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/despite-the-hours-spent-debating-different-models-of-general/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [Basically what you want in any profession - I would say the same thing if I were a lawyer or a doctor - is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/basically-what-you-want-in-any-profession-i-would-say-the-same-thing/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [I do worry a lot about the time it takes for people to get a PhD, about the difficulty of finding employment, about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/i-do-worry-a-lot-about-the-time-it-takes-for-people-to-get-a-phd/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [My own view is that the general education curriculum that a college picks has to be appropriate for the kind of student body that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/my-own-view-is-that-the-general-education-curriculum-that-a-college/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [The difficulty with coming up with a curriculum is mainly that faculty aren't trained to think in terms of general education. They're trained to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/the-difficulty-with-coming-up-with-a-curriculum-is-mainly-that/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Getting faculties to come to a consensus about something that they've never really thought about or had to worry about in their careers before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/getting-faculties-to-come-to-a-consensus-about-something-that-they-ve/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [One thing that used to worry me is the fact that it seemed like Harvard was this big scary thing where I would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yara-shahidi/one-thing-that-used-to-worry-me-is-the-fact-that-it-seemed-like/) [Yara Shahidi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yara-shahidi/) > [Millions of people would give literally anything to get their kids into a school like Harvard, and millions more simple admire it as another,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/millions-of-people-would-give-literally-anything-to-get-their-kids/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [If you take a look at places like Harvard, it's striking. In the early ,50s, I think there were a handful of Jewish professors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-take-a-look-at-places-like-harvard-it-s-striking-in-the-early/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I went to Amherst because my brother had gone there before me, and he went there because his guidance counselor thought that we would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stiglitz/i-went-to-amherst-because-my-brother-had-gone-there-before-me-and-he/) [Joseph Stiglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stiglitz/) > [In the bubble decade, making money as an end in itself boomed as a calling among students at elite universities like Harvard, siphoning off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-rich/in-the-bubble-decade-making-money-as-an-end-in-itself-boomed-as-a/) [Frank Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-rich/) > [You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq. It's like Harvard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/you-want-to-be-a-terrorist-you-go-to-iraq-it-s-like-harvard/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“You love it right?" Lassiter asked, holding his Bible high. "I mean, you told me to go on the internet. I did. I even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/you-love-it-right-lassiter-asked-holding-his-bible-high-i-mean-you/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [I hope that one day when I'll go back to Pakistan, I will build a university like Harvard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-hope-that-one-day-when-i-ll-go-back-to-pakistan-i-will-build-a/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [I now began for the first time to envy those young cubs at the university who had fine scholars to tell them what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-now-began-for-the-first-time-to-envy-those-young-cubs-at-the/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) ## More by Louis Menand > [“For Peirce, inquiry is always communal—it is the median of many observations that gives the position of the star—and the last analysis really is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/for-peirce-inquiry-is-always-communal-it-is-the-median-of-many/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [If time is a staircase, reality is a Slinky. Decades can be parsed. Television, frequently accused of destabilizing life, is actually what stitches the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/if-time-is-a-staircase-reality-is-a-slinky-decades-can-be-parsed/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Basically what you want in any profession - I would say the same thing if I were a lawyer or a doctor - is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/basically-what-you-want-in-any-profession-i-would-say-the-same-thing/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [“In modern societies, the reproduction of custom is no longer understood to be one of the chief purposes of existence, and the ends of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/in-modern-societies-the-reproduction-of-custom-is-no-longer/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [One of the functions of literary criticism, or reviewing, generally - and I, most of my reviews actually are not about literature - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/one-of-the-functions-of-literary-criticism-or-reviewing-generally-and/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [You have to have students wanting to take the courses, otherwise you're not going, they're not going to be very effective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/you-have-to-have-students-wanting-to-take-the-courses-otherwise-you/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [“We do not (on Holmes’s reasoning) permit the free expression of ideas because some individual may have the right one. No individual alone can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/we-do-not-on-holmes-s-reasoning-permit-the-free-expression-of-ideas/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Literature is being taught as though it were only political medicine or political poison-a view that is not only illiberal but illiterate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/literature-is-being-taught-as-though-it-were-only-political-medicine/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [ “\[According to Holmes\], ‘Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/according-to-holmes-every-year-if-not-every-day-we-have-to-wager-our/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [It's difficult to get a job and people stay in school longer because they're employed as teaching assistants or instructors by their schools, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/it-s-difficult-to-get-a-job-and-people-stay-in-school-longer-because/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Just in higher education alone, more people go to college now, by enormous amounts, than went to college in the '50's and '60's. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/just-in-higher-education-alone-more-people-go-to-college-now-by/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Obviously input is helpful to faculty in trying to come up with a curriculum, but ultimately it's the faculty's job to know what students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/obviously-input-is-helpful-to-faculty-in-trying-to-come-up-with-a/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Universities are set up to get people to work together by having them disagree with each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/universities-are-set-up-to-get-people-to-work-together-by-having-them/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [ “What \[Peirce\] meant was that since nature evolves by chance variation, then the laws of nature must evolve by chance variation as well. Variations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/what-peirce-meant-was-that-since-nature-evolves-by-chance-variation/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. Never, btw, ask that androgynous paper clip anything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/never-be-afraid-to-try-something-new-remember-amateurs-built-the-ark/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) [Explore all 79 Louis Menand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) ## More Aptitude quotes > [People are so constituted that everybody would rather undertake what they see others do, whether they have an aptitude for it or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/people-are-so-constituted-that-everybody-would-rather-undertake-what/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [ The first \[quality\] to be named must always be the power of attention, of giving one's whole mind to the patient without the interposition… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/the-first-quality-to-be-named-must-always-be-the-power-of-attention/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [It is not your aptitude, but your attitude, that determines your altitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/it-is-not-your-aptitude-but-your-attitude-that-determines-your/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [“That evening, Hope wrote a letter to her MP, Jack Crow. She found no difficulty at all in composing it, but quite a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-macleod/that-evening-hope-wrote-a-letter-to-her-mp-jack-crow-she-found-no/) [Ken MacLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-macleod/) > [Now, occultism is not like mystic faculty, and it very seldom works in harmony either with business aptitude in the things of ordinary life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-waite/now-occultism-is-not-like-mystic-faculty-and-it-very-seldom-works-in/) [A. E. Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-waite/) > [If a man is to lose his fortune, it is a good thing if he were poor before he acquired it, for poverty requires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/if-a-man-is-to-lose-his-fortune-it-is-a-good-thing-if-he-were-poor/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [Men are so constituted that every one undertakes what he sees another successful in, whether he has aptitude for it or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/men-are-so-constituted-that-every-one-undertakes-what-he-sees-another/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“My attitude is to be with one aptitude”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/my-attitude-is-to-be-with-one-aptitude/) [P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/) > [Honestly, I never really thought I'd be a comedian. But I did take an aptitude test in seventh grade - and this is 100…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-wolf/honestly-i-never-really-thought-i-d-be-a-comedian-but-i-did-take-an/) [Michelle Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-wolf/) > [Appalling numbers of youth have been led into a cynical ultra-sophisticated attitude which regards drinking as a badge of social aptitude, which makes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-parker-yockey/appalling-numbers-of-youth-have-been-led-into-a-cynical-ultra/) [Francis Parker Yockey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-parker-yockey/) > [Henke sensed her terrifying aptitude for destruction as never before. Henke had feared for her sanity; now she knew the truth was almost worse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-weber/henke-sensed-her-terrifying-aptitude-for-destruction-as-never-before/) [David Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-weber/) > [Attitude and not the Aptitude decide the Altitude you reach in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/attitude-and-not-the-aptitude-decide-the-altitude-you-reach-in-life/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [That's what humanity is: a series of successes and failures, a testing of one's own nature and aptitude. Neither the body nor the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/that-s-what-humanity-is-a-series-of-successes-and-failures-a-testing/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [“I am Captain Aptitude. Well, I will be, once I get acclimated to the climate at this altitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-am-captain-aptitude-well-i-will-be-once-i-get-acclimated-to-the/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Once again the Naderites were onstage attacking the Educational Testing Service - the organization which develops and administers the scholastic aptitude tests...the reason for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-seligman/once-again-the-naderites-were-onstage-attacking-the-educational/) Daniel Seligman [Browse all 196 Aptitude quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aptitude/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think at a place like Harvard, our experience, I was involved with, at various stages, in trying to implement a new general education curriculum, our experience was that Harvard's all about specialization, that's not just true of the professori, it's also true of a lot of the undergraduates, too, and they come, they kind of know what they want to do, they select it because they have a strong aptitude for something in particular.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Louis Menand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-experience-i-was-involved-with-at/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aptitude" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-experience-i-was-involved-with-at/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/louis-menand-8583_aptitude_i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-expe_3177434.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/louis-menand-8583_aptitude_i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-expe_3177434.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/louis-menand-8583_aptitude_i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-expe_3177434.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think at a place like Harvard, our experience, I was involved with, at various stages, in trying to…” — Louis Menand", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Louis Menand", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think at a place like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-experience-i-was-involved-with-at/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/i-think-at-a-place-like-harvard-our-experience-i-was-involved-with-at/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```