A committee that oversees the College Course program has voted not to offer the program's hallmark course, Introduction to War and Peace Studies, this year.
Professor Jack Shepherd, who taught the course, left Dartmouth this summer for Cambridge University.
Professors involved with the program said it will be restructured and incorporated as part of the College's new curriculum.
Members of the program's steering committee said the College does not have professors to run the inter-disciplinary program.
English Professor Peter Bien, a member of the committee, said College Course 1: Introduction to War/Peace Studies will not be offered this spring.
Instead, the committee will "rethink and revise the course" and offer it in the spring of 1994, he said.
Bien said he regretted the committee's decision to "lay down" the course for a year, but said the course is still a high priority. "Maybe we made the wrong decision," he said. "But that's the decision we made."
The War/Peace course is sponsored by the Dickey Endowment for International Understanding and consists of a term-long series of guest lecturers from around the world.
Bien said some of the guest lecturers will help revise the course.
Pediatrics Professor Alan Rozycki, who is on the steering committee and has taught the course in the past, said he is concerned the course may be "gone for good."
"Putting it away for a year will put it away for ever," he said.
Members of the committee said a lack of College support for the program created a reliance on a few professors to carry it through. Shepherd's departure was a serious set back, they said.
Former Sociology Professor Elise Boulding, who started the program, said she was dismayed that an "institutional support system" had not been developed for the inter-disciplinary courses.
Rozycki said up to three professors may be needed to revive the program.
"Great courses are probably developed by individuals, not institutions," he said. "The course wasn't strongly supported by the institution and it was Jack Shepherd who really made the course great."
Bien said he would like to find a professor at Dartmouth. But he said it would be difficult to find a professor for such a non-traditional course.
Rozycki said he strongly encouraged the committee to look outside of the College for a permanent professor for the program.
The program's other course, Conflict Resolution in International Affairs will be taught by Sociology Professor Raymond Hall this year and will be cross-listed as Sociology 84.
