Humanities and social sciences in engineering education-postwar to postmodern and beyond

Abstract

The impact of EC2000 on the humanities/social sciences (HSS) component of engineering curricula concerns both engineering and HSS faulty members. This paper reviews how the events of the last fifty years have affected the role of the HSS in engineering education. After World War II a strong effort was made to strengthen the scientific basis of the undergraduate engineering curriculum to better prepare students for graduate study and research. At the same time there was an effort to return the HSS, which had been neglected during WW II, to a more important role in this curriculum. By the late 1960s this had led to overcrowded curricula. Dissatisfaction with the HSS led to calls for reform, but in the press of other events, these went largely unheeded. In the post-Cold War era, industry's need to compete in global markets has put other demands on the engineering curriculum that may further diminish the role of the HSS. Some tentative conclusions are drawn from these events about the future prospects of the HSS Under EC2000.