Santa Barbara: Departments

Hispanic Civilization
Hispanic Civilization was an interdepartmental major designed to provide breadth in the study of Spain, Portugal, Spanish America, and Brazil in their multiple cultural aspects of language, history, literature, art, music, psychology, anthropology, political science, sociology, and economics. Completion of designated requirements in these fields lead to the A.B. degree in Hispanic civilization. A minor in the program was also available. The five-man Hispanic Civilization Committee was in charge, representing a cross-section of the different specializations.

Serious consideration was first given to this major in 1948 and it was inaugurated in 1953 under the chairmanship of Philip W. Powell. The city of Santa Barbara had a strong interest in the development of the program and the then active Hispanic Society of Santa Barbara was especially outspoken in backing it. The Regents of the University confirmed its support of the program in 1955, upon presentation of long-range plans by local financier Francis Price. Interest reached its peak in 1960 with the ambitious bid of the committee, under Powell's leadership, to establish a Center of Hispanic Studies on the Santa Barbara campus.

When Powell assumed chairmanship of the history department, Winston A. Reynolds, later chairman of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, took his place. During his tenure of office, the committee continued to guide the students who had chosen this major, generally averaging between one and two dozen. Anticipating the Education Abroad Program, it often functioned in a direct manner to help students to study abroad under exchange programs.

Each year the committee selected the outstanding junior or senior student in Hispanic studies for the Francis Price Award, a cash prize ranging from $100 to $500 that was endowed by the Hispanic Society of Santa Barbara and named for its founder. Another annual activity by the committee was the Hispanic Civilization Lecture at Santa Barbara.

Among the members of the Hispanic Civilization Committee who over the years have contributed the greatest amount of time and effort were, in addition to the two chairmen mentioned, Professors Kurt Baer, Donald M. Dozer, John L. Gillespie, Stephen S. Goodspeed, and David Bary. Charles Erasmus, chairman of the Department of Anthropology, was appointed chairman of the committee in 1964. source

History
William H. Ellison pioneered his history instruction at Santa Barbara in 1924, and in the next twenty years built the Department of Social Sciences, from which six present departments have sprung. In 1944, Ellison, A. Russell Buchanan, and H. Edward Nettles comprised the history section of the department. In 1959, the Department of History made its independent appearance with a staff of eight men. By 1964-65, this number had grown to 17. There then followed an extraordinary expansion as the staff doubled in one year, growing to 34 in 1965-66. This expansion belatedly reflected a swift rise in the proportion of Santa Barbara students majoring in history and enrolling in history courses. By 1965-66, 1,000 students (graduate and undergraduate) were majoring in history, a figure comprising about 10 per cent of campus enrollment. Both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, history majors were the largest single group on campus. Similarly, 10 per cent of the students on the dean's list were history majors.

The department was one of the first departments to offer the M.A. degree, graduating its first candidate in 1955. In 1961, it was also one of the first departments to inaugurate a doctoral program, conferring its first such degree in 1962 (to a student who came from Michigan with Professor Alexander DeConde at an advanced level of preparation). As of 1965-66, three doctorates had been granted, and 38 students were in the doctoral program. Eighty students were studying in the M.A. program.

Department chairmen were: Philip Powell, fall, 1959, and 1962-64; Wilbur R. Jacobs, spring, 1960, through 1961-62; Alexander DeConde, after 1964. In 1965-66, 14 staff members offered courses in the general area of American history, fourteen in European history, two in Latin American history, two in Asian history, one in African and one in Near Eastern history. source

Home Economics
This department traced its origin back to the Anna S. C. Blake Manual Training School, a private institution founded in 1891 for the teaching of cooking, sewing, and sloyd (Swedish system of manual training using wood carving as a means of training in the use of tools) to the children of Santa Barbara. These subjects were later designated as household science, art, and manual arts.

In 1909 after formal organization by Governor Gillette as the Santa Barbara State Normal School of Manual Arts and Home Economics, the institution became the first in the United States to be devoted exclusively to teacher training in these subjects and the first in California to offer a major in home economics. In 1912-13, the first building in California for collegiate work in home economics was constructed on the Riviera campus at Santa Barbara.

During the evolution of the institution, the department shifted its emphasis from teacher training exclusively to the broad spectrum of home economics. In 1944, when Santa Barbara State College was incorporated into the University, the department offered 25 courses, covering foods and nutrition; child development; institutional management; clothing, textiles and related art; and house and family management.

In 1945, in accordance with the intent of the Regents, the curriculum in home economics was developed to provide the fundamentals of a liberal education for the students while affording opportunities for scholarly and professional development.

In 1965, the completion of laboratory facilities made possible a new focus on research. The undergraduate programs were based on the physical, biological, and social sciences as well as the humanities. Under the College of Letters and Science, by the mid-1960's, the department offered 33 courses and three majors leading to A.B. degrees, foods and nutrition (including dietetics), general home economics, and textiles and clothing. In 1964-65, there were 114 undergraduate and three graduate students enrolled. source