Cornell University College of 1969-70

310 Pages·2014·7.3 MB·English

Cornell
University
ANNOUNCEMENTS
College of
Arts and Sciences
1969-70
CORNELL UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Volume 60. Number 18. March 27, 1969. Published twenty-
two times a year: four times in August; three times in
March and October; twice in May, July, September, and
November; once in January, April, June, and December.
Published by Cornell University at Sheldon Court, 420
College Avenue, Ithaca, New York 14850. Second-class
postage paid at Ithaca, New York.
Cornell University
College of
Arts and Sciences
1969-70
Cornell Academic Calendar*
1969-70+
Registration, new students Th,Sept. 11
Registration, old students F, Sept. 12
Fall term instruction begins, 7:30 a .m. M, Sept. 15
Midterm grade reports due S, Oct. 25
Thanksgiving recess:
Instruction suspended, 1:10 p.m. W, Nov. 26
Instruction resumed, 7:30 a .m. M, Dec. 1
Fall term instruction ends, 1:10 p.m. S, Dec. 20
Christmas recess
Independent study period begins Nl, Jan. 5
Final examinations begin M, Jan. 12
Final examinations end T, Jan. 20
Intersession begins W, Jan. 21
Registration, new students Th,Jan. 29
Registration, old students F, Jan. 30
Spring term instruction begins, 7:30 a .m. M, Feb. 2
Deadline: changed or make-up grades M, Feb. 9
Midterm grade reports due S, Mar. 14
Spring recess:
Instruction suspended, 1:10 p.m. S, Mar. 28
Instruction resumed, 7:30 a .m. \1, Apr. 6
Spring term instruction ends, 1:10 p.m. S, May 16
Independent study period begins M, May 18
Final examinations begin M, May 25
Final examinations end T, June 2
Commencement Day M,June 8
Deadline changed or make-up grades M ,J une 15
* Students in the College of Arts and Sciences should see page 25
for “Important Dates 1969-70.”
t The dates shown in the Academic Calendar are subject to
change at any time by official action of Cornell University.
The courses and curricula described in this Announcement,
and the teaching personnel listed therein, are subject to
change at any time by official action of Cornell University.
Contents
2 ACADEMIC CALENDAR
5 COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
6 The Curriculum
6 Admission
8 Advanced Placement
15 Advising
16 Registration in Courses
17 Requirements for Graduation
22 Grades and Academic Standing
23 Leaves of Absence and Withdrawals
24 In Absentia Study
24 Credit for Summer Session
25 Important Dates, 1969-70
25 Special Programs
29 The Libraries
30 Scholarships and Prizes
33 COURSES OF INSTRUCTION
33 The Freshman Humanities Program
38 American Studies
38 Anthropology
47 Archaeology
49 Asian Studies
60 Astronomy
61 Biological Sciences: Animal Physiology and Anatomy; Neurobiology
and Behavior; Biochemistry; Botany; Ecology, Evolution, and System-
atics; Genetics and Development; Microbiology
85 Chemistry
94 The Classics
99 Comparative Literature
105 Computer Science
111 Economics
122 English
137 Geological Sciences
145 German Literature
145 Government
155 History
167 History of Art
174 Mathematics
190 Medieval Studies
190 Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures: Burmese, Cebuano,
Chinese, Dutch, English as a Second Language, French, German, Hindi,
Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Linguistics, Portuguese, Que-
chua, Russian, Sinhalese, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Telugu, Thai,
Urdu, Vietnamese
225 Music
231 Philosophy
236 Physics
245 Psychology
258 Romance Studies
258 Russian Literature
258 Semitic Languages and Literatures
262 Sociology
276 Theatre Arts
283 Center for International Studies
285 The Program in Greek Civilization
287 Latin American Studies
287 The Six-Year Ph.D. Program
292 Society for the Humanities
294 College Scholar Program
295 ADMINISTRATION AND FACULTY

Cornell University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
The College of Arts and Sciences reflects the history and aims of the
University itself. Purposeful and diverse, it is a liberal arts college, a
university college, and a graduate school and research center. The role
of the liberal arts college is traditionally and properly a double one. It
should further a man’s understanding of himself and the world he lives
in. It should prepare him, if he has the desire and the talent, for further,
more specialized study. All of the College’s students have both oppor­
tunity and obligation to work toward that understanding; about two-
thirds of its graduates continue their education.
The College of Arts and Sciences, in its second role as a university
college, is responsible for the education of all Cornell students in liberal
subjects. This is a taxing commitment, but a valuable one because
meeting it helps to create and preserve a single academic community.
At the same time, this obligation is also a source of strength and diver­
sity that is not available to the single and solely undergraduate college.
A university college, able to draw upon the more highly specialized
knowledge and facilities of its more professional fellow colleges, is able
to unite liberal and practical studies.
The College is also, and this is its third role, a graduate school and
research institute. Teaching and scholarship are not separable activities.
Their vigorous and inventive association provides inestimable ad­
vantages for undergraduates; it attracts fine minds to the faculty and
keeps them professionally alert and humanly responsive; it demands
first-rate facilities; and it creates an atmosphere of discovery and excite­
ment.
This mixed character and these several functions are surely the most
adequate way to meet the real obligations that higher education in
America has assumed. In an American university each student must
somehow receive an education which enables him to understand the
world and effectively employ his talents in it; each must discover who
he is and what his special interests and abilities are; each must be
enabled to develop his knowledge, his interests, and his abilities; each
must be helped to a sense of responsibility about himself and his work.
5
6 ADMISSION
The College of Arts and Sciences thinks it can best meet these obliga­
tions by promoting diversity and permitting flexibility. For students this
means freedom and continuity: freedom to experiment, to discover
one’s likes and talents, to change directions and correct mistakes; con­
tinuity so that experiment can take place without penalty, and with
profit and excitement. Combination permits continuity; diversity permits
freedom of education choice.
THE CURRICULUM
The College's curriculum gives the student opportunity for breadth,
experiment, and discovery, especially during the first two years. A
certain diversity is indeed urged upon him by the Distribution require­
ment itself. When the student explores a new subject matter he is, in
effect, exploring his own latent interests and abilities. As he completes
introductory courses the student lays the foundation for more advanced
work or even for majoring in particular fields. During his fourth term
(or earlier), as his interest comes to a focus, he chooses the subject in
which he wishes to concentrate his study, aiming at depth and compe­
tence. The usual pattern is for him to devote roughly half the work of
the last two years to his major program. Though certain core courses
are usually prescribed in any major, there still remains a broad spec­
trum of choice which includes related courses in other subjects or even
in other divisions of the University. Some departments offer two major
programs: one, a program of intense and sophisticated preparation for
postgraduate study; the other, a more general program for the person
who wants a liberal education with some specific concentration, but
whose interests are not professional.
Almost all departments have a full, demanding, and rewarding Honors
program for those who demonstrate particular ability during their first
two years. Many departments have as part of their Honors programs
(or in addition to them) specially directed courses and projects which
permit students to pursue their own interests and talents.
The College periodically offers experimental courses that cut across
subject lines, explore new notions, and test ideas arising from that com­
plicated triangulation that must go on between teacher, student, and
subject.
ADMISSION
The College of Arts and Sciences attempts to select a freshman class
whose members are individually able to take full advantage of the edu­
cational opportunities afforded by the College and the University.
Because those opportunities are rich and diverse, no single criterion is
employed. The College selects primarily for what Aristotle called the
intellectual virtues, and it especially considers academic ability, intel­
ligence and creativity, independence and maturity, and promise of
ADMISSION 7
mental growth. It also seeks a class with a wide range of other qualities
and characteristics, and it honors those young men and women with
highly developed special interests and talents. Furthermore, the College
is making a real effort to identify and admit students whose schooling
and family backgrounds indicate that the standard measures are a poor
index of their abilities.
An applicant must have completed a secondary school course giving
satisfactory preparation for the work of the College. Sixteen units of
entrance credit are required: four years of English; three years of college-
preparatory mathematics (The increasing need for mathematics in the
social, biological, and physical sciences makes it desirable for students
interested in these areas to be prepared to take a calculus course upon
entering the College; these students should have studied advanced
algebra and trigonometry during their secondary school years.); and
three years of one foreign language, ancient or modern. (Foreign lan­
guage preparation is particularly important in this College. Although a
student who can offer only two years or less of a foreign language, but
who has a school record of otherwise high quality, should not hesitate to
apply, he should attach a letter to his application form explaining his
deficiency.) The remaining units should be chosen from laboratory
science, social studies, and further work in mathematics and foreign
language. Whenever possible, these sixteen units should be supple­
mented by courses in similar academic subjects. Exceptions to these
requirements may be granted when the applicant’s record is unusually
promising. For example, students whose interests and academic and
extracurricular achievements are in the fields of the creative and per­
forming arts should not hesitate to apply because they have not taken a
standard academic curriculum. Demonstrated unusual strengths in one
area may offset weaknesses in another.
Each candidate for freshman admission is required to take the College
Board Scholastic Aptitude Test and either the College Board Achieve­
ment Test in English composition or the College Board Literature Test
no later than the January test date during his senior year. He is en­
couraged, but not required, to take other Achievement Tests of his
choice. He should request the College Entrance Examination Board to
send the results to the Office of Admissions, Cornell University.
Although an Achievement Test in language is not required for ad­
missions consideration, a candidate should, before entering Cornell,
take the College Board Achievement Test in any language which he
has had in high school and expects to continue in the College. Because
the score on such a test is needed for placement in language courses,
the test should be taken late in the senior year—in March, May, or
even July. A candidate should also keep in mind the further language
requirement which he must meet by the end of his sophomore year in
the College. If he will be entering with two or more years of some
language which he wishes to use toward fulfilling this requirement (see
p. 12.) he should also take the Achievement Test in that language
even though he does not plan to continue it in college. This score
8 ADVANCED PLACEMENT
will determine whether in the tested language he has met part of the
requirement for graduation.
Scores on these various admissions examinations provide no index
at all for some qualities and only a rough index for others. But com­
mon sense suggests, and experience has shown, that high scores (above
700) tend to be linked with academic success and low scores (below
550) with academic risk in the College of Arts and Sciences.
An applicant for admission who has completed a year or more of
work in another institution of recognized collegiate rank will be ex­
pected to have had preparatory work equivalent to that prescribed for
freshmen. In addition, his progress in meeting the Distribution and
language requirements will be carefully examined. Action on completed
applications for transfer will be announced during April or early May.
Transfer students should refer to the brochure "Transfer to Cornell
University” for more complete instructions. A student seeking admission
to the College of Arts and Sciences from some other undergraduate divi­
sion of Cornell must first complete a year of successful study in that
division.
Each year a few Special Students are enrolled in the College. These
students must take at least twelve credit hours (e.g. four three-hour
courses); they are limited to two terms of residence; they may not
apply their courses toward an Arts College degree; and ordinarily they
may not be studying in absentia from another college or university.
Under special circumstances, students may spend their senior year at
Cornell while earning the degree of another institution.
Special students must have a compelling academic reason for studying
at Cornell and they must be endorsed by a member of the department
in which they desire to concentrate their study.
Application forms may be obtained from the Office of Admissions,
Day Hall, and all communications concerning admission should be
directed there. Applications must be returned to the Office of Admissions
by January 15.
For information on other matters of general interest such as details
about health services and requirements, housing and dining services,
tuition, fees, and living expenses, applications for financial aid, and
motor vehicle regulations, consult the Announcement of General In­
formation. The various Announcements of Cornell may be obtained by
writing to the Announcements Office, Day Hall, Ithaca, New York 14850,
or by inquiring at the administrative offices of the several colleges and
schools.
Advanced Placement
Advanced placement and advanced placement credit toward the degree
of Bachelor of Arts may be achieved by an entering freshman in a
variety of subjects and in a variety of ways.
Advanced placement shall be awarded whenever a student’s record, or