Geography

Geography is a new and small field, with 22 concentrators. The subject is of little direct practical value, teaching, exploration, and cartography being about the only occupations it is of direct aid to. It is a subject, however, which can be put to any number of purposes, such as correlation with history or economics. Moreover due to the way in which the material is taught, it is a field most conducive to thought and reason on the part of the student, and in this alone it is helpful to any career. Because facts play such a small part in it, it has acquired the reputation of an easy field. You get out of it what you put in, however, and the more you put in, the more you will want to put in. Anyone who has enjoyed working with maps as a boy will be interested in this field.

Those who are concentrating in the fields of History or Economics will find much new related material in Geography 1, which is on Economic Geography, and Geography 14a on Political Geography.

Since there are so few instructors (three) within the field and consequently a limited number of courses, there is more room for tutorial work than in the field of Geology. Concentrators pointed out Soil as one subject which was under-emphasized in the courses and is done in tutorial conferences, although at present there is no course that could stand more emphasis on it. Reading which connects the field with History or Economics can also be done under the direction of the tutors.

The Divisional exams in the Senior year consist of a general exam on the field and another in one's special field, chosen from among Systematic Geography, Regional Geography, Climatology, and Physiography. The latter is also, and perhaps more closely, connected with Geology, Geology 1 being required for Geography 4a, the beginning course in Physiography. Geography 5b and 7b, the Physiography of North and South America respectively are considered better courses in Physiography from the point of view of the human geographer. Course 4a was criticized as being too technical for one in Systematic Geography which deals with its effect on humans. Bryan, who gives this course, is primarily an authority on glacial geology, outside of Physiography itself, and Geography concentrators find the course rather useless. The lack of a good textbook adds to their difficulties. But there are many facts in Physiography which are necessary for the Divisional exams and can best be obtained in a course.

Geography is prerequisite for all advanced courses in human or regional geography, and is well worth the time whether one is going on in those fields or not. The exercise which this field exerts on one's brain--one's reasoning ability rather than memory--is particuther courses in Regional Geography covers the courses in Regional Geography covers successfully and interestingly what it is supposed to. Whittlesey has a vast fund of knowledge, gives serious and well organized lectures. Kemp is amusing, widely experienced, and stimulating to individual thought.

Geographical Exploration is somewhat detached from the rest of the field, and is the most practical part of it, although limited in range. Course 31a does not accomplish very much for anyone not planning to explore some place. It is built around Professor Rice, who has had wide experience but is usually in New York and does not have much time to spend on the course. 35a, on Cartoraphy, has the widest appeal, but it is only open to concentrators in Geography and certain other scientific fields. It is well taught by Raisz.

There has been a hiatus in the meteo-ological courses, none of which are being given due to the lack of a suitable instructor. Professor Brooks of the Blue Hill Observatory only conducts graduate courses. Until some are reopened to Undergraduates a reciprocal agreement allows them to take courses at M. I. T., which are likely, however, to prove pretty technical for them.

German

German is a very small field, its concentrators last year numbering 16. The drop from 25 two years previously may have been due in part to the loss during the last few years of some prominent staff members, though an increase in concentrators for next year shows that changes in personnel are already doing some good.

The field requires no more work than any other language field, but the students who get the most pleasure out of their work are those with a knack for languages and a real interest in German. The Faculty is interested and the smallness of the enrollment means that there is much friendly contact between them and the students. This is a most enjoyable feature of concentration.

The emphasis is on German literature and those interested in the Philosophy of that country will find the material best covered in the Philosophy Department. The culture of Germany is ably and interestingly presented in German 1. A new professor, Dr. Snell, will come from Germany with a great reputation this fall, and should make German 1 an even more interesting survey of the literature than it has been in the past. It has not been hard.

There are two outstanding difficulties in the organization of the field. The advanced courses tend to deal with narrow parts of German culture, and, in the Sophomore year particularly, students have trouble in orienting themselves and in placing courses in the right relation to each other. The tutorial work does not meet this situation, and a "planlessness" is felt by some students when arranging their schedules. A second trouble previously encountered in making schedules is that too many of the advanced courses have been in the same examination group.

Concentrators in German must take examinations in the fall of their Junior year on the Bible, Shakespeare, and two ancient authors, and in May of their Senior year they must take a general exam on the whole field.

The elementary courses in German are are arranged the same as in French. German A is the elementary course. It was reorganized recently with a purpose of making it more interesting. It has become more so to the linguistic student who picks up the grammer easily from the reading and presumably concentrators would be in this group. But at the same time it has become more difficult for those who need a good solid grammatical foundation before they can read with profit.

Courses C and E serve students of about tile same competence. Those who have attained a grade of A or B in German A may enter the latter, which is the one ordinarily taken after passing the cp3 entrance examination. Although Lieder's lectures tend to be uninspiring, the fact that E is exclusively a reading course, while C entails considerable grammar and composition, attracts many students to the former. Mr. Hawkes has made an excellent course out of German D, taking much personal interest in the students. It is much the best one in which to learn to speak the language. German F, an "Introduction to Ger-