MASQUERADER

Geography 1a and Geography 1b, the elementary courses in systematic geography, become more popular every year. This in itself might be explained by some intrinsic excellence in subject matter or in treatment, by the attraction of a lecturer uncommonly able or distinguished, or by standards so low that all may come through unscathed. In this case it can be explained by none of these things; the key to geography's eminence lies in the fact that these courses satisfy the distribution requirement in science.

The science requirement was originally ordained that no one might graduate without some familiarity with the scientific mind and the scientific approach. The regulation which sets it up explicitly confines a science course to one which has a regular laboratory, in which the conclusions of theory are constantly tried, and often abridged, by the rigors of practice. Geography 1a and 1b have a laboratory, but it is a laboratory sui generis, and only by a stretch can it be said to fulfill even the spirit of the requirement. Its work consists in the answering of a series of questions, with the help of yearbooks and atlases. The questions are those of economics and sociology; the answers are those of economics and sociology; the method of answering them combines economics, sociology, and geography.

Without economics and sociology standing watch, the conclusions of economic geography would be valueless; the point of view of the geography is so restricted that he can never be more than a minor factor in the truths with which he deals.

The geography of these courses is divorced from physical geography and from cartography; it can best be learned in small conference groups, for in a large two-hour laboratory, with twenty questions, the student secures little that is of value. If the science requirement were forgotten, the large laboratory might be abandoned, and the courses made more intelligent and more profitable. The most effective stimulus to this end would be their elimination from the roster of the science requirement, where they do not properly belong.