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2010 Symposium on Engineering & Liberal Education

Save the Date! June 4-5, 2010

"What is it that identifies humans? The use of tools. For that reason, perhaps engineering is the most human of studies. ... Maybe we should teach engineering as a liberal art, and maybe a piece of every literate person's experience should be to create a useful artifact that improves life, including something as important as communication."

- William A. Wulf, former President, National Academy of Engineers

"...only an education that prepares the student for lifelong pursuit of the basic skills of seeking information, or identifying problems, of assessing patterns to support a defensible thesis, and of articulating the results effectively to a broad constituency is worth being called "Liberal" in the sense of preparing the student for the responsibilities of being free within a global technological society."

- Lance Schachterle, "Liberal Education: Designing Lives and Careers Anew"
POLYMERS TO POETRY:  Engineering programs at traditional liberal arts colleges offer students the best of both worlds.
 - ASEE Prism,
December 2008
   

In recognition of the need to expand our understanding of what it means to be a liberally educated citizen, this symposium will bring together select academic leaders and scholars to explore different models for integrating engineering, technology and the traditional liberal arts.

The Symposium is made possible through support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.  

 

2009 Symposium steering committee:

  • Cherrice A. Traver, Dean of Engineering and David Falk and Elynor Rudnick-Falk Professor of Computer Engineering, Union College, Chair

  • Ann M. Anderson, Agnes S. Macdonald Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Union College

  • Ian Baker, Senior Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Dartmouth College

  • Clifford W. Brown, Robert Porter Patterson Professor of Government, Union College

  • Palma Catravas, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Union College

  • Rob Clark, Professor and Dean, University of Rochester School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  • Drew Guswa, Associate Professor, Picker Engineering Program, Smith College

  • Sharon Jones, Director, Engineering Division, Lafayette College

  • J. Douglass Klein, Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professor of Economics, Union College

  • Hans Mueller, Professor of Classics, Union College

  • Catherine Peters, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

  • Mark Walker, Professor of History, Union College