Roger Revelle College
Encyclopedia
Roger Revelle
Roger Randall Dougan Revelle was a scientist and scholar who was instrumental in the formative years of the University of California, San Diego and was one of the first scientists to study global warming and the movement of Earth's tectonic plates...
(who was instrumental in founding UCSD out of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research, graduate training, and public service in the world...
) in 1964. Of the initial class of 181 undergraduate students, all but 30 were science majors.
UCSD—and, with it, Revelle College—was founded at height of the Space Race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
between the United States and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Revelle College remains focused on developing "a well-rounded student who is intellectually skilled and prepared for competition in a complex world."
Revelle's general education requirements are both rigorous and highly structured and attempt to follow the traditions of a classic liberal arts college. Revelle's stated goal of creating "Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
scholars" is reflected in their general education requirements, which ensure that a student graduating from the college has experienced a wide array of subjects from a year of calculus to proficiency in a foreign language. Revelle College's core writing course is known as Humanities (HUM), and is a notoriously challenging Western Civilization
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
course that incorporates writing, history and other social science requirements into a five quarter (1 year) sequence that attempts to understand the greater social and literary developments throughout Western culture.
In 2004–2005, the college celebrated its 40th anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
.
Residence halls
Revelle's Residence Halls for first-year students are all named after famous exploring ships:- AtlantisR/V Atlantis (AGOR-25)R/V Atlantis is an oceanographic research vessel operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System fleet. It is the host vessel of DSV Alvin...
- ArgoArgoIn Greek mythology, the Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was named after its builder, Argus.-Legend:...
- BlakeHMS BlakeFour ships of the British Royal Navy have carried the name HMS Blake in honour of Admiral Robert Blake who was, until eclipsed by Horatio Nelson, the most famous British admiral....
- BeagleHMS BeagleHMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which...
- ChallengerHMS ChallengerEight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Challenger, most famously the survey vessel Challenger that carried the Challenger expedition from 1872 to 1876....
- DiscoveryHMS DiscoveryEleven ships of the Royal Navy and a reserve shore establishment of the Canadian Navy have borne the name HMS/HMCS Discovery, while ships of other branches have also used the name:...
- Galathea
- Meteor
Revelle's dining hall is named Plaza Cafe.