Through time, courses have…
(1) Reflected Contemporary Social Concerns
(2) Mirrored War Time/Post-War Sentiments
(3) Grappled with Broader Changes in the Discipline
(4) Touched on the Expansion of Technology
Departmental Wide Historical Events
1833-1834: Department of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy is created
Required material Included:
“Hedge’s Logic, Locke’s Conduct of the Understanding, Paley’s Evidences of Christainity, Paley’s Natural Theology, Say’s Political Economy”
Reverend Roswell Shurtleff, Professor of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy
In 1891, John R. Commons teaches the first sociology class at Oberlin college; First sociology department is created at University of Chicago in 1892.
1893-1894: Dartmouth College offers its first sociology course
Titled:
“Social Science. Sociology: Analysis of social phenomona among civilized nations. Present Social Problems”
Taught by Professor David Collin Wells, Professor of Social Sciences
1911-1912: Professor Woods joins the department
The sociological curriculum is drastically expanded
Professor Erville Bartlett Woods, Ph.D.
1918-1919: Sociology professors take a leave of absence; Department is suspended
Presumably for the war effort during World War I
Professor Erville B. Woods and Professor Charles H. Hawes
1928-1929: The “Far East Civilizations” sub-department is incorporated under the sociology umbrella
Classes included “The History of China and Japan to 1894 to Present Time”; “The Social and Economic Transformation of China in Our Own Time”; “Chinese Literature”; “The Institutions and Culture of the Far East with the History of Their Development”
Taught by Professor David Lattimore
1935-1936: Major/modified major/minor requirements laid out
Under Chairman Andrew G. Truxal’s Leadership
1943-1944: First social statistics class taught
Presumably the seeds of the Quantitative Social Science Department at Dartmouth
Under Chairman Ralph P. Holben’s Leadership
1955-1956: Anthropology Department is separated out of the Sociology Department
Under Chairman Michael Choukas’ Leadership
1970s: Course offerings stabilize
The department’s curriculum has largely endured through time
Under Chairman Jim Davis’ Leadership
