Earth Sciences
This department, the first academic department
on the San Diego campus, was established July 27, 1959 as the
initial stage in the expansion of the specialized La Jolla campus
to a general campus. The original graduate degree given by the
department was the Ph.D. in geochemistry, which had previously
been administered through the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
With the development of the more general curriculum, this was
changed and the department now gives undergraduate and graduate
degrees in earth sciences. The department also served as a nucleus
for the development of the Department of Chemistry until faculty
strength in chemistry was sufficient to organize an independent
department. These two departments still maintain very close ties
with each other in teaching and research.
In the mid-1960's, the faculty numbered 15 full-time professors
with interests in almost all aspects of the earth, marine, and
atmospheric sciences. Seven of these men were associated with the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in its Division of Earth Sciences
and four men were members of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary
Physics. The curriculum included 20 graduate and nine
undergraduate one-quarter courses. The student body numbered 35
graduate students and some 12 undergraduates.
The department offered two general graduate curricula,
one in geology-geochemistry and one in geophysics, which were directed
toward applications of the analytical, experimental, and theoretical
aspects of physics and chemistry to the earth and space sciences.
Field courses in geological and oceanographic work were given.
Extensive participation in research was emphasized.
A major curriculum innovation in the mid-1960's was
the development of an annual summer field course built around
a departmental sea-going expedition. On these expeditions, organized
around staff research projects, students participated in field
work at sea, on islands, and on adjacent continental areas, carrying
on studies in marine and terrestrial geology, geochemistry, and
geophysics. Formal lectures and seminars were given on the ship
by staff members and visiting professors. Much of the work is
published by the students themselves. These unique "expedition
courses" using the Scripps institution research ships operated
in the following areas: San Benitos expedition (1961--San Benitos
Islands); Zephyrus expedition (1962--San Diego-Martinique, Mid-Atlantic,
Mediterranean, Red Sea); Bonacca expedition (1963--Guatemala,
Panama, Caribbean Sea); Carrousel expedition (1964--San Diego-Easter
Island, Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile, Clipperton, and San Benedicto
Islands); Papagayo expedition (1965--San Diego-Costa Rica, Guatemala
Basin, Mexico). A special volume on the results of the Bonacca expedition
was expected to be published by the University of California Press.
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Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution
There is no history currently available
for this department.
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Economics
The first chairman of the department, Seymour
E. Harris, arrived at San Diego in January, 1964. For 1965-66,
the faculty was planned to consist of five members; by 1966-67,
it was planned to have seven members. Undergraduates who would
be required to take the elementary course in economics in 1965-66
was expected to number 150 and in 1966-67, an estimated 600. Six graduate
students were expected in the academic year 1965-66 and 14 were
expected by 1966-67.
The department tried one innovation, namely
to keep down the number of courses. The intention was to have
six fundamental courses for both undergraduate and students: Economics
1, which would be for undergraduates only, Economic History, Public
Policy, Quantitative Economics, Micro-Economics, and Macro-Economics.
In the development of these courses the staff would deal with
monetary problems, problems and similar fields, but they would
be tied to the broader categories here presented. There would
be some seminars, especially for graduate students and first-class
undergraduates. Another innovation would be the introduction of
freshman seminars, which were especially successful at Harvard.
Freshmen would have increased opportunity to write papers, do
independent work, and would not depend excessively upon lectures
by senior professors.
In building up the department, an attempt was
made to obtain faculty members of differing ideologies and interests,
such as mathematical economists, Keynesian economists, and those
whose bent was classical economics. source
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Electrical and Computer Engineering
There is no history currently available
for this department.
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English as a Second Language
There is no history currently available
for this department.
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Environmental Studies
There is no history currently available
for this department.
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Ethnic Studies
There is no history currently available
for this department.
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