During the later part of the summer, multiple students received an e-mail notifying them a class they have registered for is canceled or the time was changed.

Students in sociology and English classes, including Sociology 332, The Latino/Latina Experience in U.S. Society and English 393, The History of Children’s Literature, now must find a replacement class.

Paul Lasley, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, said the sociology class was canceled because the lecturer, Ed Munoz, left Iowa State for the University of Wyoming. Lasley said Munoz pioneered the course and had taught the course since its creation in 1996.

The department has been searching for a replacement lecturer, Lasley said.

“To find a good professor in such a specialized field is difficult,” Lasley said. “We didn’t find anyone we were comfortable with for the U.S.-Latino experience.”

This is the only sociology course affected, Lasley said. However, he said, this class is part of the degree program.

The English department made three changes to its course list. English 393 and English 330, Science Fiction, have been canceled.

English 347, African-American Literature, has had a time change to accommodate the professor, said Charles Kostelnick, professor and chair of the English department. Jane Davis, associate professor of English, teaches the course.

Kostelnick said the faculty who normally teaches English 330 wasn’t available to teach this semester, and the department didn’t search for a replacement because of budget constraints.

“Its an ever-shrinking budget,” Kostelnick said.

English 393 was canceled because there was no one to teach it, Kostelnick said.

“There were funding reasons as well as staffing difficulties,” he said.

It is not unusual to cancel classes, Kostelnick said. He said the department cancels classes every semester due to lack of interest.

“This is a special case though,” Kostelnick said, “because these classes had high interest and they were canceled very late.”

Kostelnick said he was sure English 330 and 393 would be offered again, possibly as early as spring semester.

Lasley said Sociology 332 will be offered as soon as an acceptable replacement lecturer has been found.