Although distributive requirements are billed as a way of introducing students to study in a variety of subject areas, students interviewed by The Dartmouth expressed mixed opinions about whether the requirement is helpful or necessary. With such nicknames as "Stars for Stoners" and "Clapping for Credit" as Dartmouth's introductory astronomy and music classes are popularly known, for example lower-level courses are often sought after by non-majors to fulfill distributive requirements.
Before graduating from the College, students are required to take 10 interdisciplinary courses from eight categories in addition to three World Cultures courses, according to the Office of the Registrar's web site. When they were first implemented in 1993, the College's distributive requirements were seen as a re-definition of the liberal arts education, rather than simple graduation requirements, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"For some students with the majors that are already demanding, fulfilling requirements can be a little bit onerous," Lindsay Whaley, associate dean for interdisciplinary studies, said. "In some instances, students feel a little boxed in."
Whaley, who began working at the College in the Fall of 1993, witnessed the launch of the new system in his first term at the College.
"The spirit behind [distributive requirements] is really intriguing," he said. "Instead of defining them on traditional bases, students pick classes that share an intellectual framework. It's more rational."
He added that the College's system gives students "a remarkable amount of choices."
Students often take the astronomy classes to help fulfill the science requirement, a distributive that demands two science classes and that is notoriously troublesome for non-science majors to complete.
Alex Gonzalez '11, a government major who took Astronomy 1 and 2, said taking science classes was "a nice break" that allowed him to "branch out" from his normal course of study.
"I went out of my way to find an interesting class," Gonzalez said. "I really like it because it forces you to step out of your comfort zone and explore something that maybe you wouldn't have.
Garrett Simpson '11, an engineering major, said he fulfilled his distributive requirements largely by accident.
"Freshman year, I just took classes that sounded interesting," Simpson said. "Music 5 happened to fill my art [distributive,] which as an engineer, would have been the hardest [to fulfill]."
After missing the sign-up deadline for freshman seminars, Simpson said he was left with few options and was placed into "Writers at Work," an English class taught by Nancy Crumbine that fulfilled the literature requirement.
"A professor could take a class that you think would be boring from the course description and make it amazing, and vice-versa," he said.
Unlike Simpson, Mimi Li '11 said he had to choose his classes carefully to fulfill his distributive requirements.
Li, who took three successive off-terms to work in New York City, returned to the College during his sophomore spring with few distributive requirements completed. Finishing the requirements, which Li said he first viewed as a chore, was more pleasant than he expected.
"I took classes that I wouldn't normally have taken, such as astronomy and a course about marriage," he said. "These are the types of classes from which I won't remember the [specific content], but I'll remember broad concepts."
Li said he considers distributive requirements a necessary facet of a liberal arts education.
"It's important not to focus on one field," he said. "All fields are interconnected."
Some students are critical of the system, adding that it does not give them enough freedom to take the classes they want.
"I find [distributive requirements] really constraining," said Anneliese Sendax '13. "They prohibit me from taking classes in my area of interest."
Sendax said many of the classes she is interested in taking would fulfill the social analysis requirement, but feels the need to take classes that fulfill other requirements first.
Alfonso Villegas '12 said the distributive requirements are a nuisance when designing a Dartmouth Plan.
"You might have to stay on one term to fill in just one distributive requirement," he said. "They get in the way."
Yorke Brown, a physics and astronomy professor who has taught Astronomy 2 and 3 twice, and said he believes that students would still take classes outside of their majors if there were no distributive requirements.
"In an ideal world, there wouldn't be any requirements, but there would be some very strong advising," he said. "I think that the type of person that ought to be recruited to come to an Ivy Leave institution a world-class institution like Dartmouth should be a naturally inclined person to satisfy their curiosity in a number of things."
John Thorstensen, a physics and astronomy professor who formerly taught Astronomy 3, said he structured the class in a way he thought would challenge and inspire critical thinking in his students. Thorstensen noted that "hardly any" of his students had declared majors in physics and astronomy.
"People who are well-educated should have some kind of reasonable understanding of all kinds of human knowledge," he said.
David Casal, an assistant professor of music, also said that few students in Music 9 Music and Technology intended to pursue studies in music-making technology. Casal said he structured his course to help students acquire critical thinking skills by using technology and music as topics of discussion.
"I was able to make [students] realize the potential in their work and inspire a feeling about music that wasn't there in the beginning," Casal said. "And I feel like that's my job."
The current system of distributive requirements took effect with the Class of 1997 after it was approved on April 6, 1992 in a 57-26 faculty vote, The Dartmouth previously reported. Before the new system was implemented, students were required to take four courses each in the humanities, sciences and social sciences disciplines.
