Courses of Note

By Staff Reports | Sunday, October 1, 2006

Editor’s Note: None of the following courses have prerequisites. We provide here course reviews of a few of the introductory courses you are likely to consider, and a few smaller, upper-level courses that have met with consistently excellent reviews over the past few years. They are truly some of Dartmouth’s best.

Introductory Courses

ART HISTORY 1: Intro. to History of Art I ART HISTORY 2: Intro. to History of Art II

Together these courses survey the entire history of art, from ancient Egyptian and Greek artwork through the post-modernists Georgia O’Keefe and Salvador Dali. Architecture, sculpture, the graphic arts, and painting are all studied. While the two courses sometimes include dry lectures and innumerable slides to memorize, they foster an appreciation of Western civilization’s artistic legacy and its relation to our history.

CHEMISTRY 5: General Chemistry CHEMISTRY 6: General Chemistry

Overzealous pre-meds will likely leap into these courses freshman fall; their professional aspirations will be crushed in a quagmire of slow-moving, tedious lectures and labs. The classes have a tendency to go too slowly when reviewing high school chemistry topics, then too quickly when introducing new material. The professoriate is a revolving door of the chemistry staff. There are a few notable professors who are great, or at least better than the rest: take Chemistry 5 with Winn and Chemistry 6 with Glueck. If you’re not a biology or chemistry major, avoid these classes.

CLASSICS 5: The Heroic Vision: Epics of Greece & Rome

This course is a survey of some of the “best known and most influential works to survive from the ancient world.” Students study Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, as well as Lucretius’s De Rarum Natura. These works serve as the fountainhead from which our culture’s works of literature have emerged. Students will find knowledge of the classics essential toward understanding the broad span of Western literature. This year is Professor Bradley’s last, so take this class before one of Dartmouth’s best professors retires.

GOV’T 3: The American Political System GOV’T 4: Comparative Gov’t and Politics GOV’T 5: International Politics GOV’T 6: Political Ideas

Together, these four courses serve as prerequisites to the Government major, the most popular major at Dartmouth. Yet non-majors can take these introductory courses as well. Few students pass through freshman year without taking at least one, and that’s the only problem. They tend to be basic, and the classes are large.

Government 3 (American Government) often reads like a digest of the last year’s worth of Newsweek–it’s hopelessly simple. Winters in particular should be avoided. Government 5 can be very good or very bad–take it with Stam or Brooks,

Government 4 is generally a dreadful class. If taught by Professor Sa’adah–who has a disturbing penchant for seeing plagiarism wherever she turns–the class is difficult and boring.

Government 6 is an important class in which you read all the fundamentals of political philosophy. Though it is a lot of work, the class can be satisfying if you have a good professor.

HISTORY 1: The United States, 1763-1877 HISTORY 2: The United States since 1877

This is another set of courses that you should not take unless you are required to do so for your major. American History is simply too complex a subject to breeze through in ten weeks. The teaching reminds you of a tenth-grade social studies course.

That said, if you do end up taking these courses, try take History 2 with Butler, who is one of Dartmouth’s best young professors.

HISTORY 3: Europe to 1715 HISTORY 4: Europe since 1715

Although the professors who generally teach European History classes tend to be very good, these, too, are courses to be avoided. They move too fast and don’t allow for any real depth of study.

HUMANITIES 1 & 2: The Classical Tradition

For anyone interested in receiving a jump-start course in Western civilization, look no further. Humanities presents the great literature and philosophy of the ages as a coherent whole. The courses trace the evolution of human thought from classical times (Plato, Virgil, Homer) to the Renaissance (Dante, Milton) through to the modern era (Nietzsche, Ellison). No other “Great Books” courses exist at Dartmouth. Take advantage of these courses if you can. The English 5 requirement sometimes precludes its availability to freshmen.

PHILOSOPHY 1: Introduction to Philosophy

This class is a poor introduction to philosophy. Philosophy is a discipline that demands involved study of the central authors; a survey class like this one simply can’t provide it. Philosophy 3 is a more interesting introductory course, because its topic (Logic) is demonstrably more narrow.

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Bernard Gert, and James Moor are among the very best scholars in their fields, and among Dartmouth’s best professors in any field. Any class with any of them is a tremendous experience.

RELIGION 1: Patterns of Religious Experience

This introduction to the intellectual study of religion teaches the major tenets of five religions: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism.

In this class, as in most others at Dartmouth, thorough reading and class attendance are the ways to succeed. Although it is an introductory course, many senior and junior majors enroll and can make the class an intimidating one for freshmen.

The Religion Department has a group of inspired and thoughtfully reflective scholars. Kevin Reinhardt stands out even in this group.

Recommended Upper-Level Courses

ECONOMICS 26: The Economics of Financial Markets and Intermediaries

This course could just as easily be titled “Money for Dummies.” It starts with the most fundamental aspects of finance, including the banking system, interest rates, insurance, pensions, and annuities. It also touches on securities markets (stocks and bonds), the principles of risk and return in investments, and regulation and efficiency. Anybody hoping to learn how to save enough money to retire comfortably must take Econ 26. It is offered every term except fall, usually with multiple sections. Take it with Zinman if you just need the overview; take it with Meir Kohn if you want to endure one of the toughest, but most effective, instructors Dartmouth has to offer.

ENGLISH 10: The King James Bible, I ENGLISH 11: The King James Bible, II

These two courses form a complete survey of the single most influential book in Western civilization, the Bible. The former course studies the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament); the later course studies the Christian New Testament.

Both focus on the Bible’s effects on English literature and the evolving history of its interpretation.

While neither are available this year, both will be offered in the 2007-2008 academic year and should not be missed.

ENGLISH 24: Shakespeare I

This class studies ten of his plays, spanning comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances. Although Professor Saccio retired last year, the course remains an invaluable survey of the Bard’s best works.

ENGLISH 28: Milton

This study of the English epic poet surveys “almost all of Milton’s poetry and…important selections from his prose.” While Professor Luxon sometimes allows his political leanings to get in the way of his scholarship, he’s extremely knowledgeable and the subject matter makes the course indispensable.

GERMAN 42: Topics in German Civilization GERMAN 43: German Literature and Thought

These classes–both in translation–are some of the best-taught classes at Dartmouth. The readings are generally interesting and the professors are almost always exceptional. The German department as a whole represents one of the best departments here.

Try to take German 43 with Professor Shookman this fall, when it is offered as “The Faust Tradition.” Shookman is the department’s Goethe expert who won a prize a few years ago for the best teacher at Dartmouth.

HISTORY 43: European Cultural and Intellectual History, 400-1300

Medieval history isn’t usually most people’s cup of tea, but it’s not hard to maintain interest in the subject when Professor Simons is teaching. Besides, reading Augustine, Abelard, and Thomas of Aquinas makes the class worthwhile, regardless of the professor.

ITALIAN IN TRANSLATION 33: Dante

Since most of us cannot read The Divine Comedy in its original Italian, this course is a must for anyone who wishes to be educated in the Western tradition. Dante himself certainly knew his literary predecessors.

This course will be taught this fall by Robert Hollander, a visiting professor from Princeton who is considered the English-speaking world’s leading authority on Dante. He has published a seminal translation of the Inferno, and chairs both the Dartmouth Dante Project and the Princeton Dante Project, both devoted to the creation of searchable on-line databases, and scholarly articles, about the Commedia.

MUSIC 6: History of Western Art Music

This course, “An Introduction to Western Art Music,” emphasizes music of the past 300 years in an examination of selected masterworks. Like Art History, this fascinating course provides students with an excellent view of our culture through the lens of an art. “No previous knowledge of music is assumed.”

MUSIC 37: Opera

Opera is a crucial element of Western culture, and Professor Swayne traces its history from Monteverdi to modernism in an engaging fashion. Most professors butcher technology in the classroom, but Swayne uses it par excellence to enrich his course. Don’t expect to breeze through this course, though–Swayne’s courses demand a detailed knowledge of scores and libretti. No prerequisites are required, though, so be sure to take it this fall.

SPEECH 21: Persuasive Speaking

As one of the original Liberal Arts, rhetoric has a storied place in higher education. Unfortunately, Dartmouth’s administration doesn’t agree. After many years of neglect, the Office of Speech was finally closed in the spring of 2005 when its lone professor, Jim Kuypers, left to take a tenured position at Virginia Tech. Students raved about his classes, but to little avail–the administration was unwilling to provide him with either tenure or colleagues, a testament to the misguided priorities of Dartmouth’s administrators. Trustees have held periodic debates about resurrecting the Speech Office; members of the Class of 2010 can only hope to see the fruits of this before they graduate.

Courses of Note

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