Davidson College Catalog
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DiMDSON Catalog of Announcements for the Academic Year 2001-2002 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/davidsoncollegec20012002 CATALOG OF ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2001-2002 OFFICIAL RECORD FOR THE YEAR 2000-2001 DAVIDSON Published by the Davidson College Office of College Communications Edited by the Office ofAcademic Affairs 2 — Academic Calendar ACADEMIC CALENDAR 2001-2002 Fall Semester 2001 August 16-19 Orientation August 20 Classes begin 8:30 a.m. September 14-16 Homecoming October 12 Fall Break begins after last class October 18 Classes resume 8:30 a.m. October 26-28 Family Weekend October 27 Fall Convocation November 20 Thanksgiving Break begins after last class November 26 Classes resume 8:30 a.m. December 5 Fall Semester classes end December 6 Reading Day December 7 Exams begin December 13 Exams end 12:15 p.m. and Semester Break begins Spring Semester 2002 January 14 Classes begin 8:30 a.m. January 21 Martin Luther King Day March 1 Spring Break begins after last class March 11 Classes resume 8:30 a.m. March 29 Easter Break begins after last class April 2 Classes resume 8:30 a.m. April 17 Spring Convocation May 8 Spring Semester classes end May 9 Reading Day May 10 Exams begin May 15 Exams end 12:15 p.m. May 19 Commencement IMPORTANT NOTE This catalog describes an academic calendar for Davidson College which consists of two 15- week semesters. The requirements in this catalog apply to students entering Davidson in the 2001-02 academic year. Information in this catalog is accurate as of the date of publication. Davidson College reserves the right to make changes in policies, regulations, and fees, giving due notice, in accordance with sound academic and fiscal practice. ACCREDITATION Davidson College is accredited by: Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the baccalaureate degree The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction American Chemical Society National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY Davidson College admits qualified students and administers all educational and employment activities regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, or disability unless allowed by law and deemed necessary to the administration of the educational programs. In addition, the college complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing non-discrimination. Table of Contents — 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Academic Calendar 2001-2002 2 HISTORY AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 5 ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION 9 Admission Information and Procedures 9 Financial Aid 13 Honors, Awards, and Scholarships 14 Tuition and Fees 19 CAMPUS LIFE 25 The Honor Code and the Code of Responsibility 25 Residence Halls 25 Athletics and Physical Education 29 Religious and Spiritual Life 30 Social Life 31 Career Services 36 Health and Safety 37 ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND POLICIES 41 The Curriculum 41 Standards of Progress 42 Requirements for Graduation 43 International Perspectives and Study Opportunities 45 Pre-Professional Programs 50 Academic Support 55 General Information and Regulations 60 COURSES OF INSTRUCTION 65 OFFICIAL RECORD 179 Trustees 179 Faculty and Librarians Emeriti 181 Continuing Faculty, 2000-01 183 Other Instructional Appointments, 2000-01 191 New Faculty and Instructional Appointments, 2001-2002 194 Named Professorships 196 Administrative Staff 197 Scholarships 206 Curricular Enrichment 219 Book Funds 221 Honor Societies 228 Awards 229 Scholarship Holders 234 Class of 2001 241 Enrollment Statistics 245 Geographical Distribution 246 Alumni Association Chapters 247 Index 252 Capsule Information 255 HISTORY AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE HISTORY "When the peculiar circumstances of a community demand it, and their benevolence will justify it, the establishment of a College having the Bible for its first charter, and the prosperity of the Church and our country for its great design, ought to be regarded as an enterprise of no common grandeur." —Davidson's first president, Robert Hall Morrison, in his inaugural address, August 2, 1838 Founded by Concord Presbytery, Davidson College opened as a manual labor institute in 1837. The college's name memorializes General William Lee Davidson, who died at the nearby Revolutionary War battle of Cowan's Ford in 1781. General Davidson's son provided the initial acreage for the campus. The college seal and the college motto, Alenda Lux Ubi Orta Libertas ("Let Learning Be Cherished Where Liberty Has Arisen"), recall the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence; both seal and motto resulted from the suggestion of Peter Stuart Ney, an elusive Frenchman believed by some to have been Napoleon's Marshal Ney. Original academic subjects included moral and natural philosophy, evidences of Christianity, classical languages, logic, and mathematics. Three professors, including Morrison, taught this curriculum to Davidson's sixty-five students. Although Presbyterian-originated, the college maintained from the beginning its intent to educate students without regard to their denominational affiliation. This nonsectarian policy also emerged in contributors' backgrounds: Maxwell Chambers, the college's first substantial benefactor, apparently belonged to no church, though he supported the Presbyterians in his hometown of Salisbury, N.C., where he conducted a large mercantile business in addition to his profession as cotton planter and buyer. By his will in 1856, he left Davidson a quarter of a million dollars, making the institution for the time being the richest college south of Princeton. Over a third of Chambers' endow- ment went into the construction of the central academic building which bears his name. Prosperity, however, did not linger. The Confederate defeat left Davidson's fortune much impaired and a student body of only twenty-four men by 1866. 6 — History and Statement of Purpose Gradual post-war recovery encompassed expansion of curriculum and faculty. Newly added academic disciplines included chemistry, English, history, and physics; the teaching staff included its first Ph.D.-holding professors by 1890. Subsequent increasing enrollment permitted further growth in other areas. Within a decade, the size of the student body tripled from its 1900 figure of 100 students. In 1911, the college offered the A.B. and the B.S. degrees, with the former requiring study of Greek and Latin, the latter allowing substitution of a modern foreign language in place of Latin. There were fifteen departments, though majors were not a feature of the curriculum until the 1920s. A strengthened financial base was augmented by the generosity of the Rockefellers, who provided funds for replacing the original Chambers building destroyed by fire in 1921 and by annual support from the Duke Endowment which continues today. The 1920s and 1930s saw courses in accounting, business, economics, and music added to the curriculum, as well as honors programs and seminars. In 1923, Davidson was selected as the third college in North Carolina to be chartered for a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Curricular revisions in the 1960s and 1980s altered the academic calendar and degree requirements, but retained Davidson's emphasis on breadth of education along with increasing opportunities for specialization, independent academic work, study abroad, and interdisciplinary programs. First admitting women as degree candidates in 1973, the college has grown to approximately 1,600 students on campus, the limit established by the current strategic plan. The teaching faculty numbers approximately 150. Changes in physical plant during the 1990s have supported the college's growth with new and renovated facilities for athletics, the visual arts, the sciences, residential housing, and community interactions. Recent academic program changes include the expansion of concentrations and the options for a second major or minor in many departments. Attention given to writing across the curriculum includes small classes designed to help first-year students make the transition to college-level work and writing. Davidson's underlying philosophy appears in the college's official statement of purpose. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Davidson College is an institution of higher learning established by Presbyterians of North Carolina in 1837. Since its founding, the ties which bind the college to the Presbyterian Church have remained close and strong. The college intends that this vital relationship be continued to the mutual benefit of church and school. Davidson commits itself to a Christian tradition that recognizes God as the source of all truth, and finds in Jesus Christ the revelation of that God, a God bound by no church or creed. The loyalty of the college thus extends beyond the Christian community to the whole human community and necessarily includes an openness to and respect for the world's various religious traditions. Davidson is dedicated to the quest for truth and encourages teachers and students to explore the whole of reality, whether physical or spiritual, with an unlimited employment of their intellectual powers. Faith and reason must work together in mutual respect if Davidson is to realize and maintain its particular vision of academic excellence. History and Statement of Purpose The primary purpose of Davidson College is to assist students in developing humane instincts and disciplined and creative minds for lives of leadership and service.