As students majoring in the Ivy League's only geography program, Dartmouth geography majors spend more time than they would like describing what their discipline is not.
About 700 students each year take geography courses and the department graduates about 25 majors each year.
The department, which is 55 years old, enjoys strong administrative and financial support. But for too many geography majors, the subject is a misunderstood one.
As geography major Stephanie Yu '97 explained, "I think the general perception on campus from students who have never taken a class in the department is 'Geography? Like capitals and countries?'"
Today's geography students take courses delving into politics, geology, anthropology and psychology in order to examine at their role in physical and social processes. The interdisciplinary focus is the appeal to most students.
Jon Hunnicutt '97, another geography major, explained his double government and geography major by saying, "The multi-disciplinary nature of geography courses appealed to me -- I thought geography encompassed economics, government and sociology, but was more tangible and interactive with its focus on places."
Yu chose geography for the same reason. "I switched majors sophomore summer, and I chose geography because of its interdisciplinary nature."
Dartmouth's department boasts impressive facilities and faculty. In addition to geomorphology and tree-ring measurement labs, the department has microscopes, audiovisual equipment and a computerized cartography lab.
Twelve professors teach courses in the department -- with two specializing in physical geography, one focusing on environmental studies and four specializing in "human geography," the study of place and society.
Geography Chair Richard Wright feels that the department is similar in scope and reputation to the sociology and anthropology departments -- in that all three programs require knowledge of several inter-connected disciplines.
Wright said that geography provides a unique focus on topics that would typically be analyzed from a different point of view. "Economists theorize the division of labor," he said. "Geographers theorize the spatial division of labor."
According to Wright, the other Ivy League schools dissolved their geography departments after World War II for various reasons, including administrative pressure and waning interest.
Wright cited the closing of Harvard's department in 1948 as a particularly severe blow to the discipline. "It implied that geography was not an appropriate university subject."
The closing of Harvard's geography program was due to "second-rate scholarship" by individual faculty members as well as poor leadership, Wright said. The department disbanded after two homosexual upper-level faculty members were summarily dismissed due to complaints by other faculty.
Though many colleges and universities in the northeast have seen their geography departments disappear, Wright said there are still excellent departments in the Midwest and West.
He cited the University of California at Berkeley and Los Angeles, the University of Colorado and the University of Wisconsin as examples of some of the best in the nation.
Despite some persisting confusion about what geography involves, professors and students say Dartmouth's department is flourishing.
Geography Professor George Demko said the absence of a graduate program in geography at the College contributes to the high-quality of teaching at the undergraduate level.
Demko cited one of the department's most celebrated faculty members, Professor Emeritus Robert Huke, as a reason why the study of geography still flourishes at the College.
Huke, who taught at the College for 37 years, was "the backbone of the department," according to Demko.
"He had very strong teaching, very strong research. It plugged into the real world," Demko said.
For his part, Huke said the department stays healthy by teaching "timely, up-to-date courses," including classes in international relations, Asian studies, environmental studies and political science.
Huke said he would like to see more courses examining regional geography, such as the current Geography 32, which explores "Monsoon Asia."
All geography majors' names and pictures are posted on a bulletin board in the department's Fairchild Hall offices. Although the numbers are few, Wright stressed the small size as an asset, saying, "I know everyone on this board. That's the kind of department we have."
