Abstract
In the traditional geology curriculum, developed before plate tectonics, the emphasis was on rocks, minerals, fossils, and structures, which were largely studied separately. This approach was appropriate for the descriptive/cataloging phase of the earth sciences. The development of plate tectonics has changed the zeitgeist within the geological community so that processes are now viewed as being at least as important as materials. We have restructured our undergraduate curriculum in this spirit. The new curriculum begins with two courses in geodynamics, one emphasizing the solid mechanics of Earth, the other the fluid aspects. A key element of these courses has been to bring together basic physical topics, such as stress and strain, that are of fundamental importance in a variety of earth-science applications and present them in a unified way, emphasizing geologic applications. We also added courses in basic geochemistry, geologic time, and a “capstone” course in Earth systems. We retained several of the ...
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