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When I went to the University of Michigan, our Engineering school had its own humanities department. This internal humanities department offered introductory l
by brassdan 16y ago
When I went to the University of Michigan, our Engineering school had its own humanities department. This internal humanities department offered introductory level courses with smaller class sizes and faculty dedicated to teaching engineers rather than research. It was like having an embedded liberal arts school. As the article suggests, rather than eliminating humanities departments, by making these classes both required and well-taught, we earned knowledge that paid off handsomely once we entered the work world and took on roles that required more than technical skills.
- hga 16y agoWhen I was at MIT in the '80s the humanities faculty was similarly dedicated, although I remember one history seminar where I was the only student who could identify the French Revolution. Afterward the professor told me he would have seriously considered resigning if none of us had gotten it. I suppose it goes without saying that I was the only really serious history student of the 5-7 in that class, which is a shame since he was such a good professor, starting the course by explaining historiography, how the omnipresence of death prior to modern medicine made such a difference in, well, everything, etc. etc., before we got down to the nitty gritty details of Renaissance Florance. Anyway, as others have mentioned in this discussion, if you're serious, the value in these course is generally there for the taking (assuming of course your professor isn't entirely and uselessly PC, but it's your job to ensure that ahead of time).
- brassdan 16y agoI've re-read some of the humanities material from college and now realize how much it has influenced my day-to-day thinking. For example, while re-reading Sun Tzu's 'Art of War,' I realized how often I apply his strategies.