<p>Political Science is not a STEM field. It’s Humanities. Most politicians majored in Humanities. Look at their achievements!</p>
<p>George W. Bush majored in History at Yale University. Nice example of a person with “analytical mind” and “critical thinking”. I am not talking about his political view, I am talking about his obviously diminished ability to analyze facts.</p>
<p>All “monsters” with STEM degrees that you’ve mentioned - are all foreigners. Most likely, they were subjected to many propaganda classes during their college education. For example, in China even STEM majors have to take a class in Humanities, learning the teachings of Communist Party.</p>
<p>In brief, Humanities don’t help students to be humane. Often, they are used for propaganda purposes.</p>
<p>D … "took courses in everything from medieval Welsh to Shakespeare to Japanese literature. Would anyone argue that she is a less capable physicist because she can read The Tale of Genji in Japanese? "</p>
<p>No objection, I totally agree. Further, I myself enjoy studying Shakespeare on MOOC. </p>
<p>I don’t trust Humanities (and I am trying to steer my D. away from them), because Humanities mix science with propaganda. That is a dangerous mix. Many Profs have their own agenda. This agenda is pushed on students in a form of required classes. Like Marxism Studies were pushed on every student in the Soviet Union, regardless of the Major.</p>
<ol>
<li>Personally, Humanities are far too progressive for me.</li>
<li>It would be nice to have an option of studying Humanities a la carte, instead of being pushed into required classes. Even at the liberal Berkeley, there is a waiting list to study Ancient Greece. Yet, this class and Prof (most popular among students) don’t get much support from faculty.</li>
</ol>
<p>In an attempt to be modern, Humanities made themselves too controversial. They alienated their own base. If Humanities want to attract more students, they have to adjust curriculum to the areas that are interesting to students, not faculty.</p>
<p>No, social sciences aren’t humanities. There are a few crossovers, like history, anthropology, area studies, and linguistics, that could be classified either as humanities or as social sciences and/or embrace elements of each, but core social science disciplines like economics, political science, sociology, and psychology are definitely not humanities.</p>
<p>Here’s what Stanford says about humanities:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Stanford goes on to list as humanities departments the following:</p>
<p>Art & Art History
Classics
Theater & Performance Studies
East Asian Languages and Cultures
English
History
Linguistics
Music
Philosophy
Religious Studies
Division of Literatures, Cultures & Languages</p>
<p>The vast majority of this is distinctly non-ideological.</p>
<p>Many colleges now offer classes in gender studies. At Stanford, for example, there’s an interdisciplinary undergraduate program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, drawing from a range of social science and humanities fields; it is neither pure humanities, nor pure social sciences, but a combination of both, though it is pretty far removed from the traditional core humanities disciplines. These courses of study are sometimes dismissed as “ideological” or “propaganda” by those who disagree with the perspective. But you could just as fairly label a hard-core free-market-oriented economics course as “ideological” or “propaganda” if you disagreed with that perspective. That doesn’t mean the study of society and culture from a feminist perspective has no value, any more than it means the study of economics from a neo-Classical free market perspective has no value. If the class is well done, it will rise well above the level of “propaganda”; students will actually learn something, gain critical insights into their world, and in the process develop skills in critical thinking, analysis, and argumentation. And in the long run those skills might prove to be just as valuable, if not more so, compared to the more pedestrian vocational training offered in some other disciplines.</p>
<p>I think what you’re afraid of is that your daughter might actually learn to think for herself.</p>
<p>In post #13, Californiaaa, she said Economics was considered a humanities field at many universities. I find that very interesting as in every university I know of here and abroad, Economics is definitely classified as a Social Science. </p>
<p>However, that’s very amusing considering how much fun I can envision having by seeing the reaction of some Econ majors I know IRL when I or anyone equates their field with the humanities.</p>
<p>"I think what you’re afraid of is that your daughter might actually learn to think for herself. "</p>
<p>I think that I can think for myself without a class that would teach me to do so. Actually, I think my D. can think for herself as well.</p>
<p>Don’t you see a fallacy - college requires student to take a class that would teach student to think for himself. Analogy - 'we force you to eat meat, we don’t care about the fact that you hate meat. You have to eat meat, because it will help you to learn, how to choose food that you like".</p>
<p>Education for Citizenship—requirement satisfied by completing two courses in different subject areas; or completing two Disciplinary Breadth courses which also satisfy different Education for Citizenship subject areas. Education for Citizenship provides students with some of the skills and knowledge that are necessary for citizenship in contemporary national cultures and participation in the global cultures of the 21st century. Education for Citizenship is divided into four subject areas: Ethical Reasoning, the Global Community, American Cultures, and Gender Studies. Ethical Reasoning—Courses introduce students to the pervasiveness, complexity, and diversity of normative concepts and judgments in human lives, discuss skeptical concerns that arise about normative practices, review ways in which people have engaged in ethical reflection, and consider ethical problems in light of diverse ethical perspectives.
The Global Community—Courses address the problems of the emerging global situation. They may compare several societies in time and space or deal in depth with a single society, either contemporary or historical, outside the U.S. Challenges of note: economic globalization and technology transfer; migration and immigration; economic development, health; environmental exploitation and preservation; ethnic and cultural identity; and international forms of justice and mediation.
American Cultures—Courses address topics pertaining to the history, significance, and consequences of racial, ethnic, or religious diversity in the culture and society of the U.S… Challenges of note: equity in education; employment and health; parity in legal and social forms of justice; preserving identity and freedom within and across communities.</p>
<p>Gender Studies—Courses address gender conceptions, roles, and relations, and sexual identity in a contemporary or historical context; they critically examine interpretations of gender differences and relations between men and women. Challenge of note: changing sexual and physiological realities in contemporary and historical perspective.</p>
<p>Philosophical question: Can we hate what we don’t know?</p>
<p>californiaaa, would you like to answer? How do you know you hate humanities? Do you hate all humanities classes? Should how humanities is advertised or promotors be reformed? Should we get rid of humanities all together?</p>
<p>
Anyone can “think” for themself, but their “thinking” can be extremely flawed and inhibit their personal growth.</p>
<p>In other words, if you want to study computer science in Stanford, you have to subject yourself to the class in sexual identity and learn about significance of racial, ethnic, or religious diversity. </p>
<p>I wonder, why Humanities and Social Science Profs expect students to respect their classes? … ideology pushed down your throat.</p>
You have a lack of respect for any department besides STEM.</p>
<p>I consider that foolish considering you’re a professor. And a female STEM professor, at that. How can you not understand the need for awareness about diversity? Would you be an advocate for the removal of classes that teach about the “sexual identity and…significance of racial, ethnic, or religious diversity”?</p>
<p>My best guess is that the more competitive a college is for admissions, the more PC you will find the required coursework. It would probably be a good idea for you to consider whether it is worth exposing your children to PC ideas. Even beyond the coursework, there is a good chance your child will acquire PC friends, become corrupted and end up accepting these ideas. It isalso possible your child will marry a fellow student, from a PC family, in which case, your grandchildren will probably be raised PC, even over your objections.</p>