LETTER TO THE EDITOR: USEM requirement most positive experience Brandeis freshman had
To the Editor:I just read the article on possibly changing the USEM requirement for freshman at Brandeis University (Jan. 18, 2005 issue: "Professor recommends overhaul of USEM requirement") As someone who graduated only 3 years ago, I would like the faculty and administration to know that the USEM was what drew me to Brandeis and it is the most positive aspect of Brandeis that I remember. Professor Mandell's USEM, I Spy: the Ritual of Spectatorship and Violence, was a class that taught me how to analyze, taught me how to write, and made deeper forms of thought more accessible. It also helped edge me into college, preparing me for what a college course entails, while challenging me and guarding me within a group of other freshman. Please do not get rid of the best program that Brandeis has going for it. When I speak to friends about their freshman experiences at college, they had no introductory courses at an intellectual level equivalent to Brandeis's USEM.
-Rachel Kessous '02
New York City
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