Humanities and Social Sciences plays a crucial role in the Wentworth undergraduate experience. The goal of the disciplines our students study is to use design, engineering, and technology to make life “better.” The purpose of Humanities and Social Sciences is to help students define “better” by identifying a set of values that will help them exercise integrity, vision, community involvement, and knowledge of self and other. Students must understand the application of their discipline to contemporary issues, they must acquire strong communication, interdisciplinary and team-building skills, and they must understand the definitions of leadership, personal responsibility, creativity, and professionalism.
The Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum provides students the opportunity to explore and master critical-thinking skills, essential for the basis of lifelong learning. Innovative problem-solving skills develop when students engage in a wide variety of learning opportunities and challenges, such as are offered by this academic unit.
To ensure consistency of academic rigor across the curriculum, all Humanities and Social Science electives will require students to write an average of 20 pages during the course of the semester and read an average of 40 pages per week.
The curriculum begins with the student’s placement into an English sequence, the purpose of which is to instill in our students the skills necessary to communicate, both orally and in writing, in their classes, in the workplace, and in their communities. Subsequent courses consist of a wide variety of humanities and social science electives that introduce students to the concepts of community, society, and self.
English Requirement
Students must successfully complete an English sequence in order to enroll in humanities and social science electives. Which English sequence a student must complete is determined by the results of the English placement process. Based on the student’s English placement, all undergraduate students will be required to complete one of the following English sequences:
Humanities and Social Sciences Elective Requirement
Students in the School of Engineering and the School of Computing and Data Science are required to complete a minimum of 20. Students in the School of Management, School of Architecture and Design and the School of Sciences and Humanities are required to complete a minimum of 28 credits of Humanities and Social Science courses, comprised of the English sequence and either three or five electives in humanities and social science courses, with at least one course from the humanities and one course from the social sciences determined on the total number of credits required for each degree program.
- Students whose English Sequence requires three English courses may use the third English course to satisfy a humanities elective requirement.
- Students in programs with Directed HSS Electives may use the directed elective course(s) to satisfy the humanities or social science as determined by that HSS course.
