Does anyone at Caltech actually like the humanities?

<p>maybe even (gasp) equally as much as the sciences?</p>

<p>Does anyone like humanities - yes
as much as the sciences? I don't know everyone, so I couldn't say for certain, but I can only think of maybe one person who would come close. I would not have come to Caltech if I had equal interest in humanities as in science. That said I have found my frosh hum interesting and well taught. A significant number of people double-major in a science and a humanity.<br>
My advice would be that for someone who wants to do something "sciency" in later life, but still wants to learn about humanities because he or she finds them interesting could be well served here, but someone who thinks he or she might want to go to grad school in humanities may be better served elsewhere (though I did hear of someone who did that). Humanities teachers here are generally more focused on their teaching rather than their research in comparison to the science profs, so one can get a lot out of them if one is willing to interact with them. I'm only a frosh, so I don't know as much as some other posters here.</p>

<p>I agree with the post above this. While most Techers will always put science first, quite a few have a serious and mature interest in the humanities and pursue it through second majors, senior theses, SURFs, etc. So you won't be among people who have no serious appreciation for the arts and humanities.</p>

<p>Ben,
Do the humanities profs try to spin the classes towards a science/math bent to keep the interest of students? DS sat in on a philosophy class when he visited in October and was disappointed that it was a lot more mathy than philosophical (and he wants to major in math!).</p>

<p>My frosh hum doesn't seem like it's spun towards math and science. I think the humanity department understands that people came here for another reason (read math/science), but they actually are excellent.</p>

<p>My philosophy class would occasionally use mathematics as examples of truths etc, and use simple math to explain a concept some people might be having trouble with, but when you're discussing descartes and some other philosophers, it's almost not possible to not include the occasional math in the discussion. </p>

<p>Then again, everyone who teaches the humanities here seems to really know what they're teaching, which for me was a gasp of fresh air after middle school and high school english.</p>

<p>I'm a physics major, and I love humanities classes. I sincerely wish that we had more of them offered here.</p>

<p>I feel that my time at Caltech has provided me with an interesting conundrum--I came to Caltech to do physics, physics, and more physics, but once here, I found myself drawn into student government, athletics, and all sorts of other extracurriculars. In fact, I feel that the most important things I've learned at Caltech have nothing to do with science, and everything to do with humanity, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's the lessons I've learned outside of problem sets, lectures, and exams that serve me best later on in life.</p>

<p>I'm also a little bit of a rare case, I think--I'm taking my physics degree and ditching grad school, industry, and all that in order to go found an NPO, and maybe a for-profit company or two on the side.</p>