<p>I'm heading to Columbia SEAS for CS this fall, and they have pretty intense humanities requirements (27 credits). I have this bad feeling that I'm not going to enjoy this. Can anyone help me convince myself that this is a good thing? (I'm thinking of a technology/business oriented career)</p>
<p>Also, what kinds of humanities classes would be useful/easy for a pure-science/math type to transition into? So far, the only non-technical subject which I think I might like is economics.</p>
<p>Not sure what they require specifically, do you like econ? I think you’ll find humanities classes at Columbia a lot more engaging and interesting than at high school, I wouldn’t worry about it. There are going to be a lot more classes to choose from as well.</p>
<p>Humanities are important because in those types of classes you will have to write papers laying out arguments, you will have to assert your points during class discussions, you will learn (I hope) to respectfully disagree with what others claim, and you will learn to think out of the box (by questioning “the box”). </p>
<p>These are kind of vague, but they are “general” skills that humanities classes tend to build rather than engineering classes.</p>
<p>And if you ever go into business, guess what? You will be writing papers/emails, you will be sitting in meetings with your superiors and you will have to learn how to disagree with them when necessary, etc… etc…</p>
<p>I agree with you. However, I think there’s not an insignificant number of engineering majors who are not interested in the humanities courses. I wonder if these students would be better served by a course that teaches the same skills as the humanities courses, but in an engineering context instead of 17th century literature.</p>
<p>Of course, this is only applicable if you believe the general skills are the only intent of the humanities courses for engineering majors.</p>
<p>^That is true. I think a different humanities curriculum is needed for engineers. However, in my experience, the humanities classes geared towards engineering majors tend to be known for being less rigorous. You know, the classes whose titles are “Technology in Society,” or a class whose sole purpose is to teach engineers how to orally communicate (“Communication”).</p>
<p>I am one of those engineering majors who likes humanities, and I think that is one of the reasons I aspire for a business/product role in a technology firm.</p>
<p>I think you can use these Humanities classes to expand your knowledge and learn something completely different than the math and science you’re studying at the moment</p>
<p>Compared to high schools, colleges tend to offer a considerably greater selection of courses, including in the humanities and social studies. This can include courses which are somewhat interdisciplinary, such as history and social implications of science and engineering. But it also includes courses on subjects which are less commonly offered in high school, or have only one course offering in high school (which is not necessarily something taught at the rigor level to keep a college bound student interested), such as any social studies subject other than history (e.g. economics, government/politics (usually required, but usually not offered beyond the required course), psychology, sociology, cultural geography, anthropology), and humanities subjects like philosophy and rhetoric. An engineering student may not be all that interested in the typical high school offerings in humanities and social studies, but may find that the wider offerings in many colleges are more interesting.</p>
<p>That said, there is also the point that required reading and writing skills courses are often focused on humanities subjects like literary analysis, even though most college graduates will need to read and write about other subjects. Reading and writing skills courses which cover more varied subjects may be more helpful to more students.</p>
<p>I know at my school the humanities requirements generally had to be filled by one of those broad, fairly non-topic specific courses that everyone finds so horribly boring. I got lucky I was able to get out of one of mine through AP credit, but I still had to take a course to fulfill the requirement. I went with History of American Urban Life. I was able to work most of the projects/assignments into some excuse to read about the history of materials (Mat Sci major here), so I was able to learn about both something new, different, and interesting.</p>
<p>For example, this is a required course description:</p>
<p>“Literature Humanities is designed to enhance students’ understanding of main lines of literary and philosophical development that have shaped western thought for nearly three millennia. Much more than a survey of great books, Lit Hum encourages students to become critical readers of the literary past we have inherited. Although most of our Lit Hum works (and the cultures they represent) are remote from us, we nonetheless learn something about ourselves in struggling to appreciate and understand them. Why did these works cause previous generations to value them so highly? In what ways are our authors in conversation with each other? How are these books relevant to our lives? In the end, what do we gain from them? These questions offer just a sample of the kinds of provocation that Lit Hum is meant to arouse. Students should not expect Lit Hum to teach them what these texts are about. Rather, it asks students to join a small group of classmates to raise questions and debate answers. Lit Hum seminars should fascinate, delight, and confound. Our hope is that students will return to these books, their beauty, and the profound questions they raise over the course of their lives.”</p>
<p>When you read a course description like this, it seems like all fluff and no stuff. Why would anyone want to idly chit-chat about fiction books? I don’t understand what it is that I’m supposed to gain from this. I’m sure there are other ways they could teach me to read and write well.</p>
<p>@RacinReaver:
Well, CMU is very liberal with regard to course requirements and doesn’t require too many humanities requirements (which was very attractive when I was considering it)</p>
<p>I thought I would hate the humanities courses, too, but I ended up really enjoying them. In fact, I am thinking about auditing some undergrad humanities courses next year (or maybe just surreptitiously sit in on some classes).</p>
<p>IMO, there’s really no comparison between humanities courses taught at the university level and the humanities courses offered at high schools and community colleges.</p>
<p>Well, it hones your general analysis skills. And in debating/discussing certain points in the text, you improve your ability to articulate yourself, which is a skill that, IMO, most college students need to improve.</p>
<p>As for fiction, many novels really don’t have much relevance to life (for me, most of Jane Austen’s novels). But others, I think, really speak to what it is like to be human, and have the mental state of a person (like Crime and Punishment).</p>