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In
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Section
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Statement
of Goals and
Objectives
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General
Information
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About
Oberlin
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Catalog
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About
Oberlin
Oberlin College: Scholarship, Diversity, Social
Commitment
Statement of Goals and
Objectives for Oberlin College
Oberlin College,
an independent coeducational institution, holds a
distinguished place among American colleges and
universities. Oberlin was the first college to
grant undergraduate degrees to women and
historically was a leader in the educating of
blacks; its heritage is one of respect for the
individual and active concern for the larger
society. The College uniquely combines an
outstanding professional school of music with a
leading undergraduate college of arts and sciences.
The two divisions reinforce each other. The
Conservatory provides flexible programs to prepare
students as professional musicians and teachers of
music. Deeply committed to academic excellence, the
College of Arts and Sciences offers a rich and
balanced curriculum in the humanities, social
sciences, and sciences. Within that framework the
College expects that students will work closely
with the faculty to design an educational program
appropriate to their own particular interests,
needs, and long-term goals.
Oberlin seeks a
diverse and promising student body. Recognizing
that diversity broadens perspectives, Oberlin is
dedicated to recruiting a culturally, economically,
geographically, and racially diverse group of
students. Interaction with others of widely
different backgrounds and experiences fosters the
effective, concerned participation in the larger
society so characteristic of and tolerant of
divergent views. The Conservatory of Music in
particular seeks talented musicians with
considerable potential for further growth and
development. Performance is central to all of the
curricula including music education, history,
theory, composition, and technology.
Oberlin's faculty
is dedicated to combining effective undergraduate
instruction with productive scholarship and
artistry. Members of the faculty are highly skilled
and professional, well-grounded in their chosen
discipline; yet they characteristically have
interests that extend beyond their own
specialization. The College seeks to recognize and
encourage teaching of unusually high caliber, and
scholarly and other creative activities are
considered essential to continued teaching
excellence. Thus, active research, scholarship,
artistry, and/or performance is expected of each
faculty member.
Oberlin College
enjoys an exceptional physical plant including
libraries, art museum, computing center, scientific
laboratories, physical education facilities,
concert halls, and practice rooms. Creating an
environment in which academic excellence can
flourish, these attractive physical resources are
important to realizing the aims of the
College.
For its students,
the aims of Oberlin College are:
to
equip them with skills of creative thought,
technique, and critical analysis which will
enable them to use knowledge effectively;
to
acquaint them with the growing scope and
substance of human thought;
to
provide for their intensive training in the
discipline of a chosen area of knowledge;
to
ready them for advanced study and work beyond
the college years; to
foster their understanding of the creative
process and to develop their appreciation of
creative, original work;
to
expand their social awareness, social
responsibility, and capacity for moral judgment
so as to prepare them for intelligent and useful
response to the present and future demands of
society;
to
facilitate their social and emotional
development;
to
encourage their physical and mental well-being;
to
cultivate in them the aspiration for continued
intellectual growth throughout their lives.
--Adopted
by the General Faculty November 15,
1977
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Oberlin's
Distinguished 167-Year
History
The roots of
Oberlin College reach back to 1833 when two young
Yankee missionaries arrived at a stump-dotted
clearing in the forests of northeast
Ohio.
The Rev. John J.
Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart, inspired by Alsatian
pastor John Frederick Oberlin, resolved to found a
college and colony on the western frontier "where
they would train teachers and other Christian
leaders for the boundless most desolate fields in
the West." They shortly gained the support of
Charles Grandison Finney, one of the 19th century's
great revivalists. Finney's reputation attracted
students to the college and colony, "bound together
by a solemn covenant which pledged them to the
plainest living and highest thinking," as well as
financial support for the College and the town of
Oberlin.
In the spring of
1833, the first settler, Peter Pindar Pease, built
his log house at the center of Oberlin. That
December, 29 men and 15 women students began
classes in the Oberlin Collegiate Institute. Two
years later circulars describing Oberlin noted that
"youths are received as members, irrespective of
color." As a result, by the turn of the century
one-third of all African American graduates of
predominantly white institutions in the United
States had graduated from Oberlin.
In 1837 four
young women matriculated for the regular college
course. Three of the four graduated in 1841 and
became the first women in America to receive A.B.
degrees.
In 1850, by an
Act of the Ohio Legislature, the Oberlin Collegiate
Institute became Oberlin College. The change was in
name only since collegiate instruction had been
offered from 1834 when the original charter was
granted.
The music
division became part of the College in 1867, two
years after its founding as a private school. The
Graduate School of Theology, organized in 1835 as
the theological division, was merged with the
Divinity School of Vanderbilt University in
1966.
Present-day
Oberlin College reflects its early commitment to
high intellectual standards, liberal education,
excellence in teaching and social and moral
commitment.
The town of
Oberlin, Ohio (population 8,600) is 35 miles
southwest of Cleveland and is easily accessible by
car, plane, bus or train.
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The academic
programs of Oberlin College are based in its two
divisions: The College of Arts and Sciences (2,200
students) and the Conservatory of Music (650
students).
The College of
Arts and Sciences offers a four-year undergraduate
program leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree. The
Conservatory of Music offers four-year
undergraduate programs of professional and academic
studies leading to the Bachelor of Music degree, as
well as two-year programs leading to a Performance
Diploma (undergraduate) and an Artist Diploma
(graduate).
A five-year
Double-Degree Program leading to both the Bachelor
of Arts degree and the Bachelor of Music degree is
also available. The Conservatory also offers
limited graduate programs leading to the Master of
Music (opera theater, conducting), the Master of
Music Education and the Master of Music Teaching
degrees. All of these are five-year programs
integrated with specific undergraduate Oberlin
Bachelor of Music degree programs. The Master of
Music in Historical Performance program admits
students with undergraduate degrees from schools
other than Oberlin.
Academic
information differs in some cases between the
College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory
of Music. For information about degree programs,
graduation requirements, advising and academic
standing, grading policies, major and minor study
and other areas, please refer to the
College
of Arts and
Sciences,
Conservatory
of Music
or Double-Degree
sections of the catalog.
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Oberlin's
facilities are unsurpassed by any school its size.
It has one of the nation's most extensive college
library collections, one of the three finest
college art collections in the country and
first-rate facilities and equipment in music,
theater arts, the natural sciences, computing and
physical education.
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The
Seeley G. Mudd Center houses most of the College's collection
of more than 2 million items; the balance is in three departmental
area libraries elsewhere on campus.
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The
Irvin E. Houck Computing Center maintains more than 125
networked Macintosh and DOS/Windows computers in public areas
spread across the campus, as well as another 55 terminals connected
to the College's central AlphaServer. This equipment is made
available to all students without charge. Using this technology,
students can do word processing, construct spreadsheets, perform
statistical analyses, write and run programs, send and receive
electronic mail and connect to computers worldwide via the Internet.
All dormitory rooms are connected to a campus network.
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The
Roger W. Sperry Building, completed in 1990, houses offices
and teaching and research laboratories for the Neuroscience
Program. Specialized laboratories are available for research
in molecular neurobiology, electrophysiology, pharmacology,
endocrinology, neural development and neuroanatomy.
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Peters
Hall, completed in 1887, was renovated in 1996 and its function
redefined primarily for foreign languages. Extensive classroom
space, including a dedicated seminar room for each department,
and faculty office space is complemented by the Paul and Edith
Cooper International Learning Center, a state-of-the-art language
lab and media center. Also housed in the building are the Study-Away
Library and offices for international students, student advising,
Learning Assistance Resource Center, Residential Life and Services
and the Counseling Center.
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The
Kettering Hall of Science houses the Departments of Biology
and Chemistry and an extensive science library. It includes
a greenhouse, a cold room and radiochemistry preparation room,
a vision tunnel, growth chambers and instrument rooms. It is
located in a complex with the Wright Physics Laboratory, the
Roger W. Sperry Building and the Severance Laboratory for Psychology.
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In
addition to the facilities of the Conservatory (see the Conservatory
of Music section of
the catalog), performing arts utilize Sophronia Brooks Hall
Auditorium, which seats 500 for theater and opera productions,
and Warner Center for the Performing Arts, used for theater
and dance classes and productions.
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The
Allen Memorial Art Museum, internationally recognized
for the excellence of its collection, was established in 1917
as the teaching collection of Oberlin College. Over the years
the Museum's collection has been carefully developed through
purchases and gifts. It has been ranked as one of the finest
college or university art collections in the nation, and it
continues to grow in size and distinction. The collection, which
ranges over the entire history of art, is particularly strong
in the areas of Dutch and Flemish painting of the 17th century;
European art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; contemporary
American art; and Old Master and Japanese prints.
The
Museum is a landmark building designed by noted American architect
Cass Gilbert. In 1977 it was expanded through the addition of
a large new gallery for modern art, designed by the architectural
firm of Venturi, Rauch and Associates. The Allen Memorial Art
Buildings also house the College's art department with its superior
art library of 75,000 volumes.
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Athletic
facilities are located in the Jesse Philips Physical Education
Center. It contains Carr Pool, (site of two NCAA swimming
and diving championships), a Nautilus center, a free-weight
room, three full-length courts for basketball, volleyball and
indoor tennis, six racquetball courts, nine squash courts, a
training room and specialty rooms for activities such as gymnastics
and fencing.
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Oberlin's
John W. Heisman Club Field House was completed in the
fall of 1992. Connected to the Philips Physical Education Center,
it contains a 200-meter track and four tennis courts, plus space
for football, baseball, soccer and lacrosse practice. Other
facilities include 12 all-weather tennis courts, 22 multi-purpose
outdoor fields and six bowling lanes.
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