Eighty-six!

I have an unfamiliar, if not unwelcome, problem this semester. All three of my classes are at capacity (eighteen for the seminars, fifty for the lecture course), and other students who couldn't get in are writing to me in hopes I can squeeze them in somehow. In years past, when not all my classes filled or to this extent, I've sometimes wondered whether I'm plying my wares in the wrong place. Not this time!

Have I unwittingly caved to demand, giving the students what they want? Not that that's necessarily bad. The original concept of The New School was to ensure a relevant curriculum by running only those courses people were willing to pay for. But I trust also that, whatever folks think they've signed up for, they'll still encounter enough inconvenient truths to make it a pedagogically valuable experience.