<p>This is an address by Glenn D. Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art reflecting on how he became interested in Art History. It's especially inspirational for us parents who wonder how our kids are ever going to make a living with their degrees in art history or philosophy or classics.<br>
And a fine example of an intellectual jock as well. :)</p>
<p>Excerp: "There is no substitute, though, to pursuing the ideas and areas of interest that you really care about. Chance can create opportunities but it is the knowledge of what will be intellectually rewarding that enables you to know which opportunities are worth the effort. This may be self-evident but most of us get sidelined by the need to conform, or the need to earn a living, or the inability to find something that can ignite and sustain our imagination. The people who ultimately lead the most interesting and satisfying lives, however, are the ones who are thoroughly engaged in what they are doing and could not imagine doing anything else. It is this burning desire to pursue an idea or a goal that sustains you through the difficult times, when nothing seems to work out and when everyone else seems to be either happier or doing better or both. "</p>
<p>The idea that liberal arts education 'teaches people how to think', and allows people to pursue intellectually rewarding and exciting thigs doesn't bother me. </p>
<p>What does bother me is the idea that some people seem to have about engineering: that it can't do these same things.</p>
<p>Beck, as a once-upon-a-time engineering major, I'll say that engineers--because of all the major requirements and pre-requisites--don't get nearly as broad an education as students in most other majors. They're kinda the mirror image of the innumerate arts majors in some ways. They may be able to think but [often] their perspectives and experience at least start out narrowly.</p>
<p>Side note: I was in an engineering work-study program with the US Navy. To keep our academic progress on schedule, we had American history classes on the Navy base during the summer, beginning right after high school. The history instructor, who doubled as the administrative head of the program, later told me that he knew the first week of class from the way I participated that I'd never last as an engineering major.</p>
<p>Yeah, it's a different experience. My friend (an engineering major at UVA) is passionate about history and English (as well as engineering), and is overloading on credits every semester so that she can get the engineering courses she needs in addition to the humanities courses. Most engineering majors don't do that, so we tend to have less exposure to humanities. </p>
<p>(As a side note: One of the things Olin is setting out to change about engineering education is the unbalanced education/no time for electives thing. We have breadth and depth requirements in arts, humanities and social sciences, as well as entrepreneurship.)</p>
<p>I also think that liberal arts majors sometimes miss out on some amazing educational experiences. When electricity and magnetism finally clicks, it's beautiful. The process of going from a drawing on paper to a sketch model to prototyping and then finally watching something you built conquer gravity (barely) is exhilarating. Reading that the speed of light in a vacuum can be calculated from force constants (and that you know enough math to derive it yourself) makes an 8am lecture worthwhile.</p>
<p>TheDad-- you must know very boring engineers.</p>
<p>I have learned more about art and form and poetry and what makes a wave crest and why the stars twinkle, and why a Tom Stoppard play is funnier than a traditional "comedy" from the engineers in my family, than from all the "humanists" put together. Don't confuse the discipline of engineering with the creation of technicians...</p>
<p>Becks. there are many paths to the top of the mountain. We all have to make choices among equally valuable routes. There is simply not enough time to try them all.</p>
<p>By the way, originally the Liberal Arts were divided into the Trivium ("the three roads") and the Quadrivium ("the four roads").</p>
<p>The Quadrivium consisted of:
Arithmetic -- Number in itself
Geometry -- Number in space
Music, Harmonics, or Tuning Theory -- Number in time
Astronomy or Cosmology -- Number in space and time </p>
<p>Liberal Arts are a lot more than humanistic idle speculation!</p>
<p>Xiggi: I don't believe I said anything that could be interpreted as 'Liberal Arts are humanistic idle speculation'. </p>
<p>TheDad pointed out that there are disadvantages to studying engineering. I merely wished to point out that there are advantages as well. Certainly both are very good experiences, and which is 'better' for a given student is a personal choice.</p>
<p>I don't really understand what relevance the origin of the Liberal Arts has to discussion of the relative merits of current Liberal Arts and engineering programs.</p>
<p>
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I don't really understand what relevance the origin of the Liberal Arts has to discussion of the relative merits of current Liberal Arts and engineering programs.
[/quote]
Who said that was what the discussion was about?</p>
<p>The article was great, momrath...thanks. Heck of a convocation speech.</p>
<p>beck86nj: You implied that a liberal arts education would not include an understanding of electricity and magnetism. I think Xiggi's point was that liberal arts includes math and science, and in fact, a liberal arts education that lacks math and science courses is deficient. BTW, I have 2 sons majoring in math/physics at liberal arts schools and my spouse is a chemistry professor at a liberal arts school.</p>
<p>Nwestmom: Yes, some Liberal Arts students get some E&M, but in my (very limited experience) comparing only my brother's E&M course at a Liberal Arts College (math major) and my E&M class, the engineering version is more satisfying (no memorization, all derivation and problem solving). It's very possible that these aren't representative samples.</p>
<p>I have multiple Liberal Arts college friends who bash math and physics constantly, just as there are engineering types who bash English etc. I don't personally believe that a person stands to gain anything by avoiding learning about a particular field, and think that either a Liberal Arts education that integrates math and science or an engineering education that incorporates arts humanities and social sciences is ideal.</p>
<p>beck86nj: I do not disagree. However, I do think that many engineers lack a broad-based education, just because the engineering curriculum is so demanding. In fact, I think that is why many LACs do not offer engineering except as part of their 3-2 programs--the extra year of study provides time for both a broad-based liberal education and the depth required to master engineering. Of course, some schools (such as Swat and Harvey Mudd) do offer both in a traditional LAC setting. It is also my impression, though I am no expert, that a lot of schools are trying to broaden the education their engineers receive in response to criticism that engineers are too narrowly educated, cannot write well, etc.</p>
<p>I think Olin requires/provides a pretty broad education, but Olin was created with ABET's 'improving engineering' ideas in mind.</p>
<p>What you're saying about engineering education fits more closely with the experience my dad had 25 years ago. Since I go to Olin and my best friend from high school takes over 20 credits a semester so she can fit Russian History and Poetry in with her E&M and Thermo, I tend to forget that some engineering students are still getting a very narrow education.</p>
<p>Blossom, I do indeed know some very boring engineers. And all generalizations have exceptions...except possibly this one. Moreover, a lot of the engineers broadened out quite a while after they got out of college. The typical engineering <em>student</em>...yikes.</p>
<p>It's no different than the mirror image of the humanities students for whom mathematics is opaque and the formal, closely reasoned approach of science is stultifying.</p>
<p>I'm pretty half-caste. I really enjoyed it when an engineer client once challenged me in front of some people about price per square foot. I noted that $/s.f. is a non-linear relationship fed by multiple variables. He got it and went on to the next question while everyone else was blinking in confusion.</p>
<p>In my middle years, I came to the conclusion that a lack of education anywhere along the spectrum--arts, humanities, social sciences, math, physical sciences--leaves one in a condition akin to being color blind.
Could probably make a case for adding athletics, at least broadly defined, to the list as well. Certainly it's been my gain to have experienced the rudiments of fencing and sailing.</p>
<p>Contrary to that, I'm also inclined against mandatory breadth requirements. For some people, it's simply not worth the pain and effort. Though I'm very pleased that the D is doing so despite being at a college that does not require them.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Blossom, I do indeed know some very boring engineers. And all generalizations have exceptions...except possibly this one.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, I know there are exceptions. I go to school with close to 300 of them. When they have free time they build mechanical walkers and gravity powered cars from parts they find at the dump, and then race them. They take a poetry class at a neighboring college because it sounds like fun. They build a slot car track all the way around the lounge. They drive from Boston to Maine Friday night simply because they've never been there. They convince their school to transform an unused dorm room into a kitchen so they can cook awesome food. They convince their school to allow beds to be lofted, draft a lofting policy, and then build lofts. They're amazing friends.</p>
<p>Most students don't go to Olin and they don't go to Amherst, so to use those as the basis of comparison makes absolutely no sense. Try the students at a large, 4th tier engineering school, and a small, fourth tier LAC and then the discussion gets a lot more interesting.</p>
<p>Beck, except for the poetry class, everything else sounds very engineeringish to me. Btw, when I said that all generalizations have excetions...except this one, the "except this one" refers to "all generalizations have exceptions," not "engineers."</p>
<p>I wouldn't waste time on those who don't see that engineering as a discipline can offer all you discover in it. In my case, literature is the subject that best reveals the richness, complexity, and beauty of the world. But I know full well that subjects like math and physics do the same for those who love them. The point is to feel this love.</p>
<p>By the way, there is no need for a liberal arts education to "integrate math and science"; by definition, it already includes these subjects, although those who choose to major in the humanities may only have to take a course or two.</p>