

A Faustian bargain at SUNY Albany - brassdan
http://genomebiology.com/2010/11/10/138

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brassdan
When I went to the University of Michigan, our Engineering school had its own
humanities department. This internal humanities department offered
introductory level courses with smaller class sizes and faculty dedicated to
teaching engineers rather than research. It was like having an embedded
liberal arts school. As the article suggests, rather than eliminating
humanities departments, by making these classes both required and well-taught,
we earned knowledge that paid off handsomely once we entered the work world
and took on roles that required more than technical skills.

~~~
hga
When I was at MIT in the '80s the humanities faculty was similarly dedicated,
although I remember one history seminar where I was the only student who could
identify the French Revolution. Afterward the professor told me he would have
seriously considered resigning if none of us had gotten it.

I suppose it goes without saying that I was the only really serious history
student of the 5-7 in that class, which is a shame since he was such a good
professor, starting the course by explaining historiography, how the
omnipresence of death prior to modern medicine made such a difference in,
well, everything, etc. etc., before we got down to the nitty gritty details of
Renaissance Florance.

Anyway, as others have mentioned in this discussion, if you're serious, the
value in these course is generally there for the taking (assuming of course
your professor isn't entirely and uselessly PC, but it's your job to ensure
that ahead of time).

~~~
brassdan
I've re-read some of the humanities material from college and now realize how
much it has influenced my day-to-day thinking. For example, while re-reading
Sun Tzu's 'Art of War,' I realized how often I apply his strategies.

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devicenull
In my experience, the courses I was forced to take in humanities were pretty
much useless. There was the film class that 90% of the class slept through, or
the mythology class that we all spent staring out the window.

Then there was the advanced CS classes that I missed out on because I had to
take these random other classes. I would have been happy if my school had
actually allowed me to take more relevant classes.

~~~
Zev
If you're part of the 10% that pays attention, one of the people that looked
forward at the professor, instead of to the side at the trees, you might find
that you've learned something. Ancient mythology is full of fascinating
stories and tales, surviving movies from the 1920's can tell a story like no
other. And both of these tend to get referenced in modern culture and movies
(although you wouldn't realize it, if you didn't know about it).

To put it more simply: If you treat something like a waste of time, you'll
come out of it having wasted your time.

And in the 8 semesters[1] that it takes someone to graduate, I find it hard to
believe that the class was only offered once.

1\. Usually.

~~~
devicenull
In 4 semesters (I was a transfer student), there were approximately 50%
classes I was required to take (humanities, foreign language, gym, math), 25%
classes related to CS I was required to take (all throughout my college
education, I took 'intro to java' equivalent classes 4 times), and 25% classes
I actually chose. This basically came down to 1 class a semseter, and it had
to be available at a time that didn't overlap my other classes.

Since someone decided that all the CS classes should take place at the same
time, this along with "prerequisites" basically ensured I couldn't take
anything I wanted.

For at least 3 years in college, I ended up taking more math classes then CS
classes in any given semester. I realize math can be important in CS, but it
largely doesn't help me a whole lot now. I would have loved to take more
advanced CS classes.

