Hi— anyone have any experience with the social science/humanities programs at the following schools which are known more for science/engineering:
-Case Western
-University of Rochester
-Northeastern
Thanks!
University of Rochester has a strong humanities program. My daughter is a freshman. She is interested in both humanities and science and will likely do a double major including both. They encourage and have opportunities for research for humanities majors. Here is an article the president wrote which speaks to his commitment to the humanities:
https://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/V68N4/president.html
I’ve heard Case Western is strong in humanities as well, though I don’t have firsthand knowledge of that.
I’m not familiar enough with Northeastern to give an opinion.
To the extent that fine arts are associated with humanities, the University of Rochester offers renowned programs in music.
Case Western Reserve University was formed in 1967 by the merger of the Case Institute of Technology and the Western Reserve University; the former had a STEM emphasis, the latter an emphasis on humanities/liberal arts/ professional programs. I toured CWRU with my son, and was impressed with both the STEM and humanities aspects of the university.
If you want more specific information about CWRU, you might send a PM to @bopper, who is a CWRU alum and posts frequently in the CWRU forum.
I’m a current Northeastern student in CS but I’ve had amazing experiences with the philosophy/sociology departments personally. Generally there are high opinions of PoliSci/criminal justice departments/classes but I haven’t taken classes in them myself. Lots of positives reviews of Michael Dukakis who’s been a Northeastern professor for quite some time.
I looked at all three mentioned when applying to colleges and would say all three are Rochester is very good with humanities generally compared to the other two from a broad standpoint given how its “core” is structured with the idea of clusters, but all three probably have the strongest department in some humanities field when it comes down to it, so it depends what you’re looking for.
I would say my general note here is that even with schools that are considered more “STEM” focused, a large enough non-tech only school will offer quite a good deal when it comes to humanities subjects.
Another note of course is that Northeastern’s co-op program means that many humanities programs there are very practically focused, which is a pro for some and a con for others.
Like @gandalf78 mentioned CWRU was formed from the merger of a Liberal Arts School (Western Reserve College) and a STEM School (Case Institute of Engineering). CWRU continues to be strong in the humanities.
One thing unique about Case is that they have a Single Door Admissions Policy…so once you are admitted you don’t have to apply to the engineering or business school or anything. You can major in what you want without further “filtering”.
Case also has a co-op program but it is not mandatory.
What major are you interested in?
Northeastern also has the same lack of major restrictions that case has.
Northeastern’s co-op program is not actually mandatory but is a central part of the school’s philosophy that nearly everyone chooses to do.
My son studied economics, and physics at CWRU, but also took classes in philosophy which he loved. Theatre and music is also strong at CWRU. There are a number of students studying English at CWRU, and the professors often use the Cleveland Museum of Fine Arts to enrich the classroom learning. CWRU offers nomination to Phi Beta Kappa for some outstanding juniors and many seniors, who complete a very broad set of classes, including English, social sciences, world language,fine arts, music, math and science.
Humanities/philosophy/religion professor at CWRU who is well loved and also curates Asian art at the Cleveland Museum of Art=
http://philosophy.case.edu/faculty/deepak-sarma/
CWRU is particularly strong in accounting, which is part of the Business college at CWRU. It attracts a different sort of student than the engineering programs and premedical studies programs at CWRU.
Thanks @bopper., probably some sort of political science/political affairs…the major looks tiny at CWRU compared to other majors…so curious
The Poly Sci major is small at Case - in both absolute numbers (18 graduates) and as a percentage of the class
(1.4%) and no IR majors
Rochester had 40 PS grads (2.2%) as well as 26 IR majors
Northeastern is a much larger school and had 118 PS grads (3.1%) as well as 107 IR majors.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=case&s=all&id=201645#programs
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=rochester&s=all&id=195030#programs
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=northeastern&s=all&id=167358#programs
USNWR has Rochester at #17 for political science, which is pretty good. That’s at the graduate level, but such rankings are essentially a measure of faculty strength, which is also applicable at the undergraduate level.
Departments like that offer the best of both worlds – distinguished faculty and varied course offerings with relatively few students fighting for resources.