A Place for Geography in the Liberal Arts College?

Abstract

This study charts the presence of geography at liberal arts colleges and explores the relationship between the liberal arts and the study of geography. The results of this study reveal a paradox: geography embodies many of the ideals of a liberal arts education and yet this study indicates an absence of degree-granting geography programs at 93% of institutions. Geography thrives, however, at a select group of liberal arts colleges, and these colleges are disproportionately important as the undergraduate origin for doctorate recipients in geography.

Key Words:

• geographic education
• higher education
• liberal arts colleges

Notes

1 In the 1994 scheme, the Baccalaureate (Liberal Arts) Colleges I category designated those four-year colleges with selective admissions policies, and the Baccalaureate Colleges II category designated less-selective four-year colleges. For the 2000 classification, a criterion specifying that a minimum of 50% of all degrees be granted in liberal arts disciplines was used to differentiate Baccalaureate Liberal Arts Colleges from Baccalaureate General Colleges. As a consequence of this change, the institutions listed as Baccalaureate Colleges II in 1994 moved into many different categories. The largest group, 61%, were reclassified as Baccalaureate General Colleges. Approximately 19% of the Baccalaureate Colleges II group granted more than the threshold of 20 master's degrees per year and were reclassified as Master's Universities. Approximately 14% moved into the Baccalaureate Liberal Arts category, with the remainder reclassified as Associates Colleges or as specialized theological, business, or technical schools. By contrast, 95% of the schools classified as Baccalaureate Liberal Arts Colleges I in 1994 remained in the Baccalaureate Liberal Arts category for 2000.

2 As Dunbar (1987) has noted, the term bellwether derives from the “belled wether,” the sheep fitted with a bell so as to lead the flock. The term is ironic in the context of this article, given the notorious inability of sheep to find their way.

3 I omit liberal arts colleges from this comparison since the category is overwhelmingly privately controlled and the few public institutions in this category are found in the lower half of the rankings.

4 Liberal arts colleges without geography departments that have recently increased the presence of geographers on the faculty include Coastal Carolina, Fort Lewis, Gettysburg, Hartwick, Monmouth, Stephens, Western State College of Colorado, and Willamette University. Additional liberal arts colleges with geographers working outside traditional departments include Denison, Dickinson, Evergreen State, Richard Stockton College, and probably others.

5 At least three elite liberal arts colleges without geography departments have recently hired geographers to address gaps in their curriculum. In 2001, Colorado College hired Dr. Hillary Hamann as the W. M. Keck Visiting Scholar in the Geography of the American Southwest to add GIScience and strengthen programs in Southwest Studies ( 12 Colorado College 2002 ). Sarah Lawrence College hired Dr. Joshua Muldavin in 2002, adding the first geographer to an interdisciplinary social science department ( 30 Muldavin 2002 ). At Wellesley College, as part of a campus-wide global education initiative, Dr. Anne Knowles was hired on a two-year contract to serve as the first geographer on campus. At the conclusion of her contract in 2000, a faculty committee recommended that her position be made permanent and geography be expanded at Wellesley. The administration chose not to follow this recommendation. ( 25 b31 Knowles 2002; Murphy 2002 ).

6 29 Meyer suggests that the need to provide geography courses for education and business majors can sometimes be bundled together to create a single geography position at a small college (2002).

7 For example, Bard College does not have a geography program but its Community, Regional, and Environmental Studies program is “concerned with the nature of human community and, in particular, the interrelationships between communities and the physical environment, natural and artificial.…The unifying theme is that of the interaction between human society and the physical environment, including spatial aspects of the social environment as well as land, natural resources, and ecosystems” ( 5 Bard College 2002 ).