Boudewyn van Oort, an engineer whose career has spanned several decades, reflects on how his humanities education has been instrumental in his success. “Understanding the context in which technology exists, the people it serves, and the societal impacts it…
As of late, fewer people are pursuing the arts and instead are taking part in STEM majors or concentrations. People of influence have always had a way of making their opinions heard. Whether it’s a parent under the belief that, “they’re doing it for your own good”, a teacher saying that it’s not possible to do so many things in your life, or it’s someone unknowingly making someone else feel rejected. In…
As a parent and a professor I’ve been inspired by young people who are passionate about making a difference in the fields of sustainability and environmental studies. But I’ve also been troubled. Some students dropped out of the major after taking just a few courses; others seem to have lost those flames that originally fueled their desire for change. They’d shrug their shoulders as if resigning themselves to taking classes that didn’t…
This Op-Ed was written by CHATGPT. Not bad…. In today’s interconnected world, where globalization is the norm and borders are becoming increasingly blurred, the importance of studying foreign languages cannot be overstated. The ability to communicate across cultures is not only a valuable skill but also an essential tool for personal growth, professional success, and fostering global understanding. The data unequivocally supports the study of foreign languages as a crucial endeavor in…
It baffles me to hear parents tell their kids that art is a hobby, not a career; that you can’t make good money with a degree in English. Wasn’t it just yesterday evening that these same adults binged for hours on the entire season of Grey’s Anatomy? For the second time? It so happens that Shonda Rhimes, the writer of Grey’s, received an undergraduate degree in English and Film Studies and a…
“In apparently the first course of its kind, UCSB is offering a class in the English department entitled, The Rhetoric of Climate Change. The course employs traditional tools for literary criticism, such as close textual reading and analysis, to…
