Is There Room for Liberal-Education Courses in the Geology Curriculum ?

Abstract

The increase in the subject matter of geology in recent years and the need to add more courses to cover these fields have crowded the geology curriculum to the extent that many of the liberal-education courses formerly included are now omitted. Assuming that a liberal education is desirable for a well-rounded geologist, the colleges are faced with the possibility of: (1) lengthening the period of study from 4 years to 5 years, or even more, in order to include such courses, (2) leaving out some of the geology courses to make room for liberal-education courses, (3) setting up entrance requirements which would insure that much of the liberal education will be taken in high school, or (4)) some combination of the above proposals. The emphasis today on graduate work in geology is largely an application of (1). Unfortunately, in many cases the geology content is increased without any increase in liberal-education content. The problem seems to narrow itself down to a consideration of “how much” geology is neede...