Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

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The College of Arts and Sciences Philip Mason Palmer, A. B. Head of the College of Arts and Sciences THE COLLEGE of Arts and Sciences was provided for by Judge Asa Packer even while he was primarily interested in the technical character of the University. Founded as the School of General Literature at the incorporation of the University, it was thought to be valuable only in giving engineers a cultural background. The original department, however, has gradually added subsidiary departments until now it has the largest individual group enrollment in the Uni- versity. It has grown to a position of wide scope and honorable recognition; in the recent Carnegie Comprehensive Examinations, given to seniors in all the Pennsylvania colleges, Lehigh students in the College of Arts and Science stood third among the arts students in the list of forty colleges of the state giving A. B. degrees. Although the Arts and Science curriculum is, in its purpose, primarily informing and cultural, not vocational, it also serves certain specific purposes: it is the cus- tomary approach to the profession of medicine, law, theology, and teaching, and is the usual basis for study for higher degrees. The plan of study comprises required subjects and unassigned or elective subjects. The studies of the freshman year follow in general the subjects which have been presented for entrance. After the freshman year the curriculum becomes increasingly elective, a minimum of three hours weekly of electives being allowed in the sophomore year, six in the junior year and twelve in the senior year. Instruc- tion is given by lectures, by recitations, by the assignment of readings and topics for study and dissertations, and, when the subject admits of it, by practical work in field or laboratory. Each student must select some sequence of studies, approved by the Director of the College, as his major field. A compulsory examination in the major subject is required of all students. By this plan, creative thinking and independent investi- gation in the major courses are encouraged, with a corresponding decrease of ac- quiring merely superficial knowledge of the subjects. A comprehensive examination in English is also given to those students in the College of Arts and Science who show a deficiency in the subject. A failure in this examination means the carrying of additional English during the Senior year, without credit. 4 24 f.-