Science majors don't need to be experts on the
French Revolution, existentialism, or Greek tragedy,
but they can pick up valuable skills in humanities
courses.
Humanities classes teach science students to
write and speak clearly and persuasively, to evaluate
text critically and to approach problems logically.
There's no secret formula of "must-take''
humanities courses for science majors, although
experts agree that effective writing and communications
skills are huge advantages for aspiring scientists.
Some advisers recommend technical writing and
public speaking classes. English, history, political
science and philosophy also can improve writing
and critical thinking abilities.
"Ultimately it may not
matter so much whether the student learns philosophy
or American history,'' said Dr. Philip T. Hoffman,
a history and social science professor at the
California Institute
of Technology. "The key thing is to acquire
some skills that students would pick up in all
humanities courses to greater or lesser degrees.''
Hoffman notes three sets of skills that humanities
courses can develop:
The ability to express yourself in writing and
in speech. Even scientists can't escape from writing.
Scientists in companies make presentations. Researchers
write papers and grant proposals. Employees at
engineering firms write memos and reports for
clients. To perform these tasks well, writing
classes are an obvious plus. But many other humanities
classes also demand rigorous writing. In philosophy
classes, for example, students learn to analyze
arguments and to reason clearly, logically, and
persuasively.
The ability to read critically.
"We're inundated with things we read or look
at,'' Hoffman said. "Even bright students
will read material and either accept it as true
or cynically cast it aside.'' Humanities courses
teach students to evaluate texta more sophisticated
approach than simply memorizing and regurgitating
information. In history classes, students learn
to weigh arguments and to scrutinize the sources
of information. They learn to ask, "What's
the point of this article? Is it persuasive? Is
the evidence solid? Does the writer have a particular
bias or viewpoint?''
A sense that the world can change. Humanities
classes can expand students' horizons by showing
that the world is not static and that scientific
advances don't occur in a vacuum. Science influences
and is influenced by the world around it. The
world "has not always been the way it is
now, and will not be so in the future,'' Hoffman
said. He said economic history, for example, teaches
that the "engine of economic growth today
is scientific growth'' and that prosperous countries
have learned to harness technological and scientific
changes.
Dr. Chris Falzone, a chemistry
department adviser at Pennsylvania
State University, believes philosophy and
history classes influence the way scientists approach
their work. He says science majors should have
some understanding of the historical forces surrounding
scientific discoveries and of their own motives
for wanting to pursue science.
"I have a friend who said, 'There are two
kinds of scientists: those worried about the existence
of God and those worried about how their radio
works,'" Falzone said. "You have to
know why you're interested in science, and sometimes
people lose perspective.''
Falzone said history classes provide a context
for scientific discoveries and illustrate their
impact on society. As an example, he cited the
Industrial Revolution, which transformed an agrarian
society and ushered in the era of factories and
machines. Industrialists used scientific knowledge
to strengthen business practices and increase
productivity.
Learning languages also can benefit science majors,
especially students interested in working for
multinational companies. In some ways, mastery
of languages has become less important. The Internet
has enabled scientists to obtain translations
of research articles quickly, and scientists increasingly
are using English as their universal language.
But Falzone said employers appreciate hires that
can speak additional languages. He recommends
German, Russian, French or Japanese. Hindi is
another option because India is becoming more
active in biotechnology and other sciences.
Like Hoffman, Falzone emphasizes the importance
of learning to write clearly.
"Anytime you can make a complicated subject
clearer and give it a very simple description,
people walk away and feel like they learned something,''
he said.
LaTrease Garrison, the American Chemical Society's
senior education manager for undergraduate programs,
says a science technical writing class can teach
students to deliver complex information in a readable
style that non-scientists can understand.
Garrison, who received her
bachelor's degree in chemistry from Howard
University, also advises science majors to
take a public speaking course.
"A lot of students are
afraid to speak in public because they're used
to just sitting in a lab and working,'' she said.
"A public speaking course teaches you to
deliver a message clearly and concisely without
getting nervous''or at least how to control
those nerves and get through the speech.
Lynn Willis, who writes and
edits articles for Chemistry.org,
advises science students to sign up for humanities
classes that seem entertaining.
"Pick what's interesting
to you because you'll learn skills in any classes
that you take,'' Willis said. As a Johns
Hopkins University chemistry student, she
took a humanities class called Humor Through the
Ages, which examined the evolution of humor from
ancient Greece to modern times. She also took
a play-writing class and a film course that analyzed
the director's role as "ruler'' of a film's
universe.
For one political science class, Willis had to
write a paper every week. "The only way to
get to be a good writer is to write and get feedback,''
Willis said. She said the classes helped her organize
text and present well-reasoned arguments.
"I don't apply the political science things
that I learned, but the fact that I had to write
papers all the time certainly helped my writing
skills,'' she said. The classes also taught her
to work collaboratively and to recognize that
people bring different perspectives to their work.
She realized, "There isn't always just one
way to solve a problem.''
Rachel Smolkin is a Washington-area freelance
writer. She previously worked as a national reporter
in the Washington, D.C. bureau of the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade and covered issues
such as health care and education. She also worked
at Scripps Howard News Service as a national education
reporter and as the Washington, D.C. correspondent
for The Albuquerque Tribune in New Mexico and
the Birmingham Post-Herald in Alabama.
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